


Time slips under our feet

by Shiraioki



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, How Do I Tag, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiraioki/pseuds/Shiraioki
Summary: Law finds himself inexplicably flung to the past. On an island that he has never set foot in, yet it lies in the nostalgic north blue. He must come to terms with the ripple effects his actions are causing, and how the future will look like. That is, if he can go back at all.
Relationships: Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante & Trafalgar D. Water Law, Donquixote Doflamingo & Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante, Donquixote Doflamingo & Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante & Trafalgar D. Water Law, Donquixote Doflamingo & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 110
Kudos: 348





	1. A doctor and a noble walk into a bar

Law's current predicament can be attributed to the grand line, and like every other thing concerning the grand line Law doesn't know _why_ or _how_ it happened or _what the hell is he gonna do about it_. 

A storm hitting them in the middle of nowhere, the skies instantly darkening like ink spilled on parchment, and him being _gracefully_ flung overboard the marine ship he was fighting on to end up in the ocean - arguably the last place he wants to end up in - Bepo's yelling drowned by the heavy rain hitting the deck and him losing the fight to not swallow his lung's capacity of ocean water.

But - and Law cannot help but emphasise this to himself - none of the previously mentioned past events can give him an explanation as to why he's washed up on some shore on some island somewhere wherever and not in the bottom of the ocean.

Law hacks the last of the water clogging his lungs. He finds kikoku thrown about three feet from where he was washed up, picks up his hat now resembling a wet cat, and proceeds to find himself a shelter before freezing to death.

He stumbles upon a small town not far from shore and walks up to what he assumes is a tavern. Getting a few dirty looks but none that are too hostile he walks up to the bar, plopping on a chair and setting his sword nearby.

the bartender - an old woman with wavy hair pulled away revealing a large scar running along the right side of her face - gives his sword an inquisitive glance before leveling him with the same look.

"The cheapest, warmest drink you have. And if there's something dry for me to wear I would be thankful," he said after a beat of silence.

"Coming right up." Turning around she added pointing to a box in the corner. "We got some clothes the drunkards leave around in there. Don't know about their quality though."

As the woman worked, she threw him a glance and asked "what happened to you boy? people usually avoid midnight dips in the ocean."

"Shipwrecked."

"Huh. Can't say if you're lucky to survive or unlucky to wind up here." she says as she hands him a drink.

Taking a sip he's surprised by the familiar taste "North blue butter rum," he notes the distinct taste of regional speciality. 

"Well we are in north blue." the woman throws the comment offhandedly.

"...right" and also _Fuck_. 

Law thinks that even with all the seawater that he drank and the potential concussion he's suffering he should be vaguely, if not partially, able to discern his location.

He knows the name of the last island his crew landed on and knows where they were going and since he couldn't have lasted long in water the raging tide must've washed him up near an island obscured by the storm. 

He does not think it's possible for him to have ended up in the _fucking north blue._

'But here we are' he thinks, 'the never ending bullshit of the Grand Line'.

"Where is 'here' by the way?" 

The bartender sighs and says "There's a fancy town on the other side of the island that will tell you this shit hole is called 'Comenzando', but honestly son it depends on who you ask. Without monarchy and government this place has as many names as there are people."

"A ship?"

"only pirates and slave traders dock here. A marine ship might dock if hell freezes over."

"A map?"

"Try the bookstore on the other side of the island."

Law huffed, letting out a small laugh against himself "I really am unlucky to wind up here huh?"

The bartender laughed,the edges of her face softening, "What I tell you son. Least you'll find hot drinks and dry clothes here."

Law glanced at his wet clothes "yeah, I really should get to changing those." He got up from his stool, searching his pockets until he found a 5 beri coin, showing it to the bartender "this all I got."

"Then keep it you brat." she smirked at him, "but this is the last freebie you'll get from me".

A man that was sitting near Law gave a hearty laugh "you always say that kiku-san but these small pups always pull at your heartstrings."

"Oh shut it you good for nothing" the bartender - kiku-san? - Said before putting another pint of ale in front of the man "last one old timer, then you head back to your wife."

Law walked to the pile of clothes hearing the man's complaints and kiku's rebuttals.

The clothes were stacked inside an old wooden box sitting in the corner of the store near a board filled with wanted posters, though he recognised none depicted.

It was hard to find clothes that weren't soaked with booze, piss, or both; But he managed to find a black top that you could only see the dry blood on if you took a _really_ good look so he wasn't complaining.

As he looked inside the pile a man wearing a wide brimmed hat entered the bar. He greeted the owner before heading towards the board near Law. 

"I'm gonna hang these over here, that okay with you kiku-san?"

"Yeah, just take off the old ones on your way will you."

"Sure thing." he said, ripping out the old wanted poster.

As Law stood up with clothes in hand, a wanted poster caught his eye.

Law froze where he was standing.

That's–

"But hell, these sure are dangerous times." said the man as he hung the new posters. "Ya think anyone's gonna catch Rogers anytime soon? his bounty's 4 billion beri already. the lucky bastard to do it will be set for life–" 

The man was startled as a hand flashed and ripped the poster he just hung.

"Hey come on now I just put that!" He turned to see a tall man staring at the poster gripped in his hand going an unhealthy shade of grey.

"are you oka–" Law never got to hear the rest of it as he turned his heels back to the bar.

He could feel the pounding in his ears, his mind going a mile a minute because this is not happening—

"What's the date?" He asked kiku.

"Huh?"

"Today. What's the date of today?"

Kiku looks at his face with a bit of concern before pulling a newspaper "24th of october."

"The year?"

"...1491. Are you feeling well?" 

Law plops back to the stool, putting the pile of clothes on the bar in front of him and resting his head on them, he gives a long sigh "I could be better."

Kiku tried to be sympathetic, "you lost time out in the sea huh?"

"...You can say that."

With the initial twinge of panic taking a backseat and a headache blooming Law can say that he ran out of luck.

He probably did right after defeating Doflamingo but he guessed being struck by a storm and flung to the past means that he's currently feeling the effect in full swing.

Jokes aside he really is fucked isn't he?

What to do? calm down, secure basic necessities, then try to find a way back and if that's not possible...he'll burn that bridge when he gets there.

.

.

.

Settling in was easy, as a doctor he has enough useful skills to garner the love of the townspeople and it didn't hurt that he was doing this for little to no pay.

They provided what provisions he needed and kiku-san got him a small room in her son's inn as repayment for fixing her hip after a bad fall.

The room turned into an impromptu clinic and after a while anyone with any minor ailment would pay him a visit instead of the doctor on the other side of the island.

Really, nothing can compete with the low, low price of free.

The island itself was easy to navigate as any island in the north blue at the height of organised crime. Before the golden age of piracy and before Germa 66 cleaned house these kinds of small gangs littered every island in the north blue, and with only four heads wearing a crown in this ocean it wasn't uncommon to see islands such as this one, possibly claimed but neither the owner nor the people cared.

Prosperity where money flows, a town like a flower sprouting from a dung heap, a garbage pile on the other side of the island somehow less foul and built on less blood shed, and a patch of green. This is the island of 'Comenzando'.

It was only after a month of routine that there was a shift. Law was resetting a kid's shoulder when he heard a commotion at the door. small fights and shoving tended to happen when a lot of people queued but it ended after a minute or two, this altercation however seems to be escalating.

Law headed toward the door of the inn, the shouting increasing in severity as he got closer, he could hear some of what was being said.

"–you're not welcomed here, scram!"

"Please I must see the physician, my wife is–"

"–getting what she deserves! Now beat it before we beat you!"

"No please, I just–"

Law pushed past the people yelling and shouting "what is going on here?" He asked the quieting crowd.

At the center of the mob lies a man who had seen better days.

Tall, thin, and obviously malnourished, with a head of long curly blond hair, an impressive moustache, and what might've been fine garments once, all of it is spelling _fallen noble._

A Fresh bruise blooms under his eye, it's gonna look a lot worse tomorrow.

"Can you get up?" Law reaches out his hand.

The man looks apprehensive, almost afraid, his eyes darting between Law's face and outstretched hand before accepting the offer. 

Using the hand as a crutch he rises on unsteady legs, not letting go once he finds his footing, he grips harder as if it were a lifeline.

"Please young sir, I beg of you. I must see the physician residing in this establishment at once. My wife is terribly ill and I have no means other than to ask for his assistance. I beg you please let me see him."

Law looks at the man's eyes. 

He knows that look, has seen it so many times on his father's face as he shouted on the phone that the amber lead disease isn't contagious, on sister's face as she told him that they'll be saved, on Cora-san's face as he held him high in the air telling him that he'll live, a look of desperation grasping at a final hope.

"...Come inside."

"Eh?"

Law grabbed the man's hand and dragged him to the inn before he was stopped by the crowd.

"Doc, you leave that trash alone. He ain't worth it." said a large built man blocking the entrance.

"I am a doctor. It's my duty to treat patients no matter who they are." Aaah. The absolute bull crap sprouting from his mouth. B _ut still–_

Another voice piped in, a woman "but doctor he's-"

"I don't care what he is. You wanna beat him up? Wait until I'm done." _But still–_

The blond man flinched. Law didn't care.

**"move."**

The large man blocking the entrance squirmed under his gaze before stepping aside. 

Law dragged the man inside,the inn was ghost - quiet, eyes boring into them until they reached his room.

Letting go once he was inside Law grabbed a bag and started filling it with whatever he might need on this trip. 

"What's wrong with your wife?" Inquired Law as he rummaged through his things.

"I'm sorry?" The man was dazed, barely registering his question.

"Her symptoms." snapped Law, turning to face the man.

He flinched again before answering "she's having difficulty breathing. It started as a fever but she's been getting worse-"

"When did it start?"

"The breathing issue? 3 days ago."

"What about the fever?"

"It started a week prior and I believe it's becoming worse."

"Cough? Dry or productive?"

"Ah, yes she has a dry cough."

Law continued asking while gathering supplies and trying not to curse under his breath.

_Pneumonia. Let's just hope it's simple, though I wouldn't count on my luck being this good. Worse case scenario is a secondary bacterial infection, I don't know if i could do shit about that without proper medication._

  
  
  


"Alright, lead the way" 

.

.

.

Law figured that a fallen noble with no relevant skills to speak of would live in the worst parts of town, yet he was surprised by just how far the man lived from anywhere else. 

At the edge of the island on a trash heap near the shore, sat a small hut made from scraps.

Opening the door, Law saw a single mattress in the center of the room, on it slept a woman with golden hair a shade lighter than her husband, struggling to catch her breath.

Law started working right away opening a **"Room"** and ignoring the man's startled gasp.

**"Scan"**

_Temperature 38.6 C, Blood Pressure 130/90 mmhg, Pulse Rate 80 BPM , Oxygen concentration 90% , Oxygen pressure 7.5 mmhg._

_Consolidation in the left middle lobe of the lung._

_Causative organism streptococcus pneumonia._

_Bacterial pneumonia._

_Fuck._

It's still mild and if she gets plenty of rest and has proper medication - even though her immunity is already shit from malnutrition - she should be back on her feet. His room will cover the environmental issues and a 5-day antibiotic course should do the trick. 

In here lies the kicker.

_Where the fuck am i gonna get the medication?_

The man speaks, his voice quivering "I'm so sorry. I don't have the money to buy her the medication she needs."

Law snaps back to reality as he hears the man falling to the ground on his knees. Shit, was he talking to himself out loud? 

Sighing, Law pulls him back on his feet, noting the tear stains on his face, "It's not her funeral yet moustache, so get a grip. I'll handle her medication. All you need to do now is find her a new set of sheets and something warm to sleep in."

Law glances at the room he put surrounding the woman's bed.

**"Vent."**

The room changed its shape, from the wide dome appearance to a cubic compact one that fit the bed, going a shade lighter and more opaque.

Law turned sharply to the old man, pointing his index, "Listen here, since I don't have an oxygen mask at hand I just went ahead and changed the oxygen concentration inside my sphere of influence and raised the humidity. This room will last 6 hours without me near it since I've shrunk it enough to conserve energy. Now listen closely because i'm gonna say this only once. Do not put an open flame near this room. Not a lick or a spark of fire unless you want to see your wife cooked alive, do you understand?"

The man nodded vigorously.

With that settled Law needs to get his hands on some antibiotics, maybe an IV line and saline too.

Guess it's about time he commits a crime, being a proper pirate and all.

Law pulls a jar of herbs out of his bag and hands it over.

"Moustache, I'm heading back to town to get your wife some proper meds. When she wakes up, boil these herbs in hot water and get her to drink it, do you understand?"

The man nodded again before speaking "Homing."

"Hmm?" Law turned as he was heading to the door.

"My name is...Homing. I realised that I have yet to introduce myself. May I inquire about your name?"

"Trafalgar Law." No use lying about his name, since he doesn't exist yet.

"Law" when was the last time someone spoke his name this softly? He couldn't remember. 

A small smile appeared on Homing's face, giving him such a grateful look .

It hurt Law to maintain eye contact, Because they were so much similar to _those eyes_ , clear and kind and haunting his dreams in the blood and snow and the silent choking him like a vice grip and _he just wants to scream–_

"You don't know how much this kindness means to me, to us. My family and I have never received a helping hand since we came here and i-" he choked on a sob " I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't even know how to help her."

"Homing," said Law. The man in question raised his head. "I already told you how to help her, so don't fall apart just yet."

Homing stared at him, before grabbing the sleeves of his shredded dress shirt and wiping his face. 

He squared his shoulders and put his arms behind him, addressing Law with the poise of a true noble.

"yes, i suppose you're right. I have shown you a disgraceful appearance that I am not proud of. Now is not the time for despair, I will help my family with whatever I can."

Law gave him a small smile, then added "After this, don't forget to bring her better sheets, the ones she's lying in are filthy even by garbage standards." He paused before asking, "do you have anyone that can stay here while you look? It's best not to leave her side until she recovers."

"Oh yes, I have two sons who are the most adorable little angels. I'm sure they can stay with their mother while I go look." said Homing with a bright smile.

"Alright. I'm gonna go rob a pharmacy so I'll see you in an hour or two. Take care."

"Yes take ca...eh?"

.

.

.

This shitty, god forsaken island has only one town that's not built using shipwreck or recycled junk and it was the only town with a decent port. Built by the world government in an effort to "repopulate inhabitable islands and boost the economy of the north blue". Needless to say, it turned into a lovely money laundering scheme. As Law headed towards the pharmacy without thrashing anyone - because if another asshole stopped him with "what are you lookin' at punk " he'll rip their eyeball from their sockets - the same thought that's been in his head the last thirty minutes resurfaced again.

_Why are you doing this?_

"I don't fucking know why," he muttered under his breath, hoping that this answer will quell the voices inside his head.

Because honestly? He didn't want to think about why he accepted Homing's request, why is he going to rob a pharmacy for someone who was essentially a stranger, why is he so invested?

_Because he reminds you of him._

Ah, him. 

His mind goes round and round and always winds up at him. The only reason Law would do a decent thing without being fueled by curiosity or reward. 

"You better be proud of me after all of this".

.

.

.

Robbing the pharmacy - a well furnished establishment supplied by the current reigning mob group - was the easiest thing Law has done today. 

Memorizing the place of everything he needs then heading towards the alley next to the pharmacy and taking them all with a simple _shambles_ didn't take five minute.

As he was stashing the loot in his bag he heard faint crying coming from behind a large dumpster at the end of the alley.

Afterwards, when Law drops on his bed and stares at the ceiling, he'll think that it had to be fate that brought him to this island. 

Because it was nothing short of fate that got his legs to move closer and closer to the sound of a crying child. It was fate that got him to crouch down in front of two battered children, the larger unmoving and the smaller trying to stifle his cries. 

His mouth opened on its own.

"Are you okay?"

And then those eyes turned to face him, the same eyes haunting his dreams.

Cora-san sat on the ground staring at Law, and for a moment Law couldn't do anything but stare back. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing has a TON of my head canons cramed in it so be warned. I'm also gonna super mess with Law's ability because as a med student his devil fruit is the dream~  
> For real you guys hope you enjoy this :D  
> Tell me what you think about it :)))))
> 
> Btw. Law's 'vent' is turning his room into a ventilator. I always thought that Law's ope ability has soooo much potential, if you can do anything that you're able to do in an operation theater then that opens so many different interpretations. A ventilator is an important aspect in surgery, it's the thing controlling oxygen and anasthetic flow to the patient, so law should theoretically be able to do just that. His scan is also super cool, bypassing the need for any invasive investigation one might need.
> 
> I can keep gushing about Law's devil fruit for hours. 
> 
> Maybe next chapter


	2. A series of very, very, fortunate events

There was a time, in the very first year after cora-san's death, where Law kept having this dream. 

In it he used his ability to create a large room, large enough to span the entirety of minion island and beyond, even encompassing Doflamingo's bird cage.

He would warp Cora-san and himself into a marine ship where cora-san would be moved to an operation table. Cora-san would be cut apart in order to remove the bullets his own brother embedded in him, and Law would watch as he flatlined, dying right then and there.

He would have this dream sporadically as he got older but with himself operating, wrist deep into Cora-san as he tried to re-attach burst vessels and close bullet wounds deflating his lungs.

Sometimes Cora-san would die, sometimes he would live, but no matter what the outcome was Law would always wake up feeling hollow, like someone scooped up his insides and grounded them up before piping them back into his body. 

He would chop himself up into pieces and lay them out before him to check, because nothing felt like it was in its right place then.

Everything felt wrong.

He didn't know he could feel like that outside of those moments.

And Cora-san - because it is Cora-san, because he'll always recognise Cora-san - kept staring.

"Please don't hurt us."

Such soft spoken words are loud as gunshots in Law's ears. He broke eye contact and glanced at the other child. 

_'Please don't hurt us'_ finally registered in his mind.

Us

**US**

**_DOFLAMINGO_ **

Law doesn't know what happened but if he had to give it a name he'd call it instinct. Sharp fingernails dug at his hand, the one he encircled Doflamingo's neck with. Cora-san was trying to pull him away from Doflamingo, but Law wasn't squeezing. _Yet._

There was crying. Cora-san was crying. Why was he crying? 

His hand began to tighten. 

_This is for your own good._

"NOOOOOOOOOO." small hands shoved at him, Weightless, but he fell nonetheless.

_What are you doing?_

He didn't prop himself up, didn't know why he didn't.

His head smacked the hard ground. The sky was clear. He fucking hated it.

_What are you doing?_

He sat up. He couldn't feel his limbs. why?

Cora-san was crawling further away, dragging Doflamingo's body with him. He kept on crying.

_What aRE YOU DOING?_

Law smacked his head on the ground, the thud resonating throughout the alleyway. "I'M SORRY."

Law heard the harsh sound of breathing, large inhales and not enough exhales, the hyperventilation of someone panicking. He didn't notice it was coming from him.

"Please don't go." Law didn't know what else to say.

He banged his head again, dark spots danced in his vision, pain shot through his chest with every breath. 

_You're having a panic attack. Breathe. Fuck. Breathe before you pass out. Get a hold of yourself and just-_

"Breathe," a small hand lifted his head and from the ground. He could see blood splatter, his forehead's probably a mess. 

Cora-san backed away once he sat, he still felt lightheaded.

"....what's wrong?" Cora-san stared at him, waiting for an answer, and how was he supposed to explain his near mental breakdown to a child? He could say any lie that would cleanly get him out of this situation, but lying to Cora-san, in any form, felt so wrong.

"I..remembered something terrible, someone very dear to me dying. I lost my mind for a moment. I'm sorry I scared you."

"....You're okay now?"

"Mm. Just give me a minute." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then another one, then another, until he felt right in his skin.

He looked back at Cora-san - without the haze of psychosis - and oh boy was he a mess.

Fresh bruises on his face, a split lip, scrapes on his hands and knees, and that's just what Law could see. 

He motioned at cora-san to come closer. Seeing the apprehensive child he added, "I won't do anything bad. I'm a doctor."

Cora-san squinted his eyes under those bangs looking utterly unconvinced.

Yeah ok that's fair.

Law reached out for his bag - the one he dropped at some point in this whole mess - and pulled a bottle of antiseptic, cotton, and dressings. Then he looked back to cora-san who - after a moment of fidgeting - scooted closer, careful to keep his brother's soon to be corpse behind him. "...You're not thinking about hurting brother, are you?" 

Law sighed. Leave it to Cora-san to make him feel guilty about premeditated murder. He replied as he bandaged the child's arm "I'm not, your brother...just so happens to look like a very evil person who doesn't deserve mercy." Law can't believe what's coming out of his mouth.

Fortunately for him, Cora-san can. "Hmmmm...I guess brother does have that kind of face". Really?

"...mhm". Law wants to punch himself for reasons eluding him.

After wrapping all of the children's injuries -Law almost hoped that Cora-san wouldn't ask him to bandage his human waste of a brother but he did- he volunteered to take them back home.

"your father is Homing right?"

"Wah..How??"

"you look the same."

"Oh..."

He carried the dead weight in his arms while Cora-san climbed on his back without fuss.

"...Aren't you a bit too trusting? Why are you letting me help you after all that happened?" It was dumb to remind him but Law was curious. 

Cora-san hummed in though."You didn't have the same eyes as everyone else, the angry ones. And you did say you were sorry."

The logic of this was beyond Law. 

Confused, he pressed on. "I didn't look angry at your brother..?" He avoided adding _while I was choking him_ because he thought that particular reminder would be upsetting.

"No. You looked scared," He gripped Law's neck tighter. "The evil man..was he scary?"

"...He was."

Law chose a slow pace to give himself more time to think. 

He looked down at- _him_. Not even the swath of bandages could hide how battered he was, his back a tapestry of lacerations and bruises, with injuries far worse than his younger brother.

Law doesn't want to think about the reason why, but he has to. 

In the thirty five minutes it will take him to reach that house he will debate whether to end Donquixote Doflamingo or not.

.

.

.

In the end, Law decided to spare him by a narrow margin, the tie breaker being Cora-san yet again.

Law remembered what he was like as a child, remembered the twisted and jagged edges comprising his entire being, remembered how _furious_ he was at the world and everything in it. Cora-san saved him from that.

Doflamingo may be full of bullshit but Law knows he wasn't lying when he said they were similar, he knows that Cora-san regretted how Doflamingo turned out, knows that he loved his brother even after everything he did. Even at the end Cora-san had no plans to kill him.

So Law had to believe - just like Cora-san did once - that Doflamingo has something in him worth sparing. At least for now.

It also didn't hurt that Law was a full grown adult and Doflamingo is a child whose corpse he could dispose of without anyone ever noticing.

At the shack, Law deposited the two children into Homing's hands - ignoring his distress - and headed towards his patient. He checked her vitals, established an IV line and hooked it to a saline bag where he injected the antibiotic.

"Don't "- he pointed at the whole set up - "mess with this. I'll come back tonight to check up on her".

Law swallowed a sigh.

"I need to sleep."

.

.

.

"Didn't I say that? " Law groans, lying on his bed at the inn, "I clearly remember saying that. So why am I still awake?"

Today's events flashed in his mind again, the crying, his "reaction" to Doflamingo, Law gave another groan stifled by his pillow.

"I don't want to make Cora-san cry like that ever again..."

Should he even call him that? Wouldn't it be weird calling a child nearly twenty years younger than him 'san'? And he's not even Corazon yet - won't ever be if Law had a say in it.

He knows that his name was - "Donquixote Rosinante."

Donquixote…sigh.

Speaking of Donquixote, Law remembers what Doflamingo said the day they fought, didn't think he'd forget it if he tried.

"Saw heaven and hell when he was ten. Killed his own father and dragged his head back to Mary Geoise…" 

None of that matters to him. Only that Cora–

Rosinante would be saved so long as he doesn't become a marine.

Law heard about Rosinante when he was part of the family, how he vanished for fourteen years before reappearing in front of Doflamingo, most likely an undercover marine. How did he end up there?

"Doflamingo probably killed their father in front of him, chopped the head and left the rest to rot in that house. Did he take Rosinante to Mary Geoise with him?"

No. If he did he would never have let Rosinante out of his sight, but he wouldn't have left him for too long either. Since this island is one of the closer ones to the red line - making it a hub for slave trade- Doflamingo must have thought it wouldn't take long, and the return trip would be with him reinstated as a Celestial Dragon, thus shortening the return time. But that's not what happened.

"So Doflamingo left him there and then…Sengoku found him? What was he doing there in the first place?"

Law started tapping at his sternum. 

He was missing something. He just knew it.

Tap.

Tap.

"...How could a ten year old child kill a full grown man? Doflamingo or not, that's not something you can do on your own. Even if Homing never puts up a fight." 

Tap. 

Tap.

Tap–

"...those fuckers," how could he forget about those four? Doflamingo, a pampered young master with no support, would be a rotting carcass before his eleventh birthday if not for his trusted executives.

"Problem is, I don't know for certain whether they'll meet him here or not."

Oh sure, Trebol would flaunt to whoever was in earshot about how the executives were "Doffy's real family" and how they "nurtured him ever since he was a child" but that load of crap didn't tell Law anything useful.

"Does it even matter where and when they'll meet? As long as I stay here everything will keep changing."

It already did. Their mother wouldn't have lasted another month without his help.

"Rosinante doesn't care about power or wealth. He'll be happy as long as he lives with his family in a warm, safe place."

Ironically, it's the "lives with his family" part that's the most difficult. Would Doflamingo let bygones be bygones and live happily with his family on some green patch of land? Would Law, if he was in his place?

Headache, headache. So many things giving Law a headache.

"Ah fuck it. We'll burn that bridge when we get there."

Now is the time to stop thinking about what-ifs and start thinking about what to do.

"Check on their mother for starters." 

He got up. Bag, hat, sword, and he was good to go.

Entering the foyer of the inn where people were having dinner, he receives greetings along with some puzzled looks. It was unusual for him to go out this late. 

"Where ya headed doc? Moon's already up." One patron asks over his mug of ale.

"House call."

"Heh, that so? Who's it for?"

"Dunno." because he never bothered to learn her name. Though the question itself nags at him for some reason.

"Best be careful out there." Law nods, then heads toward the door.

"And doc " - a pause - "If that man shows up here again. You just tell us alright?" 

"...sure."

Eyes kept following him until he left the inn.

.

.

.

Someone is trailing him, and has been doing so since he left the inn. 

'More than one in fact' his observation haki supplied,'They're shit at it though'. 

He puts up a room as he's rounding a corner, the blue sheen is barely visible at night.

**"shambles"**

They search for him, but not for long. He recognizes them. "Those guys...I just saw them at the inn."

He has a solid guess as to why they're tailing him.

"They're gonna kill the entire family if they find them, and me for helping them. Though I'd like to see them try."

They'll probably trail him every time he leaves, until they find them or their suspicions of him are gone. Problem is – he is one suspicious motherfucker.

"Guess I should go out the window from now on."

He reaches the shack without further incidents, but a presence behind its door catches his attention as he gets closer. Law stops dead in his tracks, waiting.

The presence shifts, and the door opens. A child holding a makeshift bat walks out. He's panting, barely holding himself up, but Law can feel the murderous glare behind those sunglasses.

Now Law wasn't hiding his presence, but he wasn't flaunting it either. To notice him before he reached the door...The little fucker is already awakening his haki.

Law wonders when he was caught.

Doflamingo steps away from the door, raising his bat and keeping an eye on his sword. He's trying to put a distance between Law and the house.

Suddenly, another mop of blond hair pops out of the door frame, and Rosinante's head peeks out.

Doflamingo's head snaps so fast that Law thought he heard a crack "Go back inside !" He puts himself between Law and Rosinante, looking like he'll bite Law's head off if he comes any closer.

"Doctor !" Rosinante waves at Law.

"HUH!?" Doflamingo is rightfully confused, looking between Law and Rosinante.

"I'll go call father. Wait here ok?" Rosinante goes back inside, leaving Law and Doflamingo in each other's company.

Doflamingo lowers the bat in his hand but doesn't drop it. Smart kid.

"Hey." Doflamingo looks at him, grip tightening on the bat. Law glances back.

"How did you know I was behind the door?" 

Silence.

Law opts to ignore his existence.

Doflamingo's jaw clenches, looking annoyed. As he should, since Law is doing this just to piss him off. He knows that Doflamingo - theatrical, boisterous, always the center of attention - can't stand being ignored. He also can't stand being made fun of. 

Law gives him a wide smirk. "What? Like it's hard?"

It takes a second for him to register what Law meant before he's fuming. 

Well, what do you know. Getting under Doflamingo's skin is still pretty enjoyable.

Doflamingo opens his mouth when the door opens, Homing walks outside, dispersing the tense atmosphere.

"Ah, Law. You have my utmost gratitude for coming here this late an hour, Please come in. Children, you as well." he ushers them in, Doflamingo still glaring daggers at Law.

"Thanks. I'll be coming at this hour from now on so don't freak out."

Law ignores Homing's confused look and walks inside, he sees Doflamingo shuffling to the corner of the room with small uneven steps, Rosinante in tow. Looking closer Law notes a thin layer of sweat on the bastard's face.

Their mother is finally awake, though still looking worse for wear.

Law nods his head in greeting, she returns it with a bright smile. "So you are the mysterious doctor who took care of me. My, I didn't think you'd be so young and handsome. So pirate-like too." she was soft spoken, her voice like bell chimes.

Homing laughs and turns to Law saying with a wave of his hand "My wife is joking. Please don't take offence."

"None taken, she's right you know."

Silence. Homing's face goes through a series of expressions, trying to find an appropriate reaction.

His wife beats him to the punch, she giggles "An Honest man too."

Homing relaxes, releasing a sigh. "I'm sorry if we made it difficult for you to disclose your current alignment, but be at ease that we have no qualm with you being a pirate. Ah, but" - he turned to his two children - "being a pirate is an abhorrent profession partaken only by the most vile individuals. The Young doctor is an exception not the rule. Do you understand Doflamingo, Rosinante?". He was met with two confused faces. 

Law is also confused, to be honest. Out of the many reactions the Donquixote family might have to his piracy, laughter and nonchalance wasn't on his prediction list. 

Better not look a gift horse in the mouth though.

The wife smiles at her children "Your father is just asking you to be Safe my angels." Both nod in understanding. 

She turns back to Law "We haven't had our introduction yet have we? My name is Donquixote Hestia." 

"Trafalgar Law." 

Her face is kind, like Cora-san . She's tired, he can tell as she reclines in her bed trying to breathe easier. 

"It was very courteous of you, not lying about your occupation."

She looks exactly how Cora-san described her once, a sweet and loving mother, honest to a fault, that wilted like a flower in this place.

"Didn't think I could lie with you already knowing."

And Law would believe that, if he didn't see the glint flashing in her tired eyes. 

"I just happened to be a good judge of character."

Her smile grew, blooming on her face. A shy bright thing that has him breaking out in goosebumps.

Huh. That's interesting.

"What a coincidence. Me too."

.

.

.

Law works in silence, tuning out the conversion between Homing and his two children while he checks on Hestia's response to the treatment. He feels her eyes on him. "You've been looking at my face for a while. Find something interesting?" 

Hestia hums in thought before answering, "It's the absence of something that I find most interesting."

Law raises an eyebrow, "Which is?"

"Secret~"

Sigh. It's been a long time since he had trouble reading someone. Her mask is bolted way too tight, he can't find a single crack.

Law stands up from where he was sitting on a stool at the edge of the bed. the newly installed saline bad dangling from a coat hanger.

"This is the first day of treatment so don't expect sudden improvements. I'll check up on you daily until you stabilise." He starts gathering his things, "you should eat if You have the appetite."

That was the signal for Doflamingo and Rosinante to approach their mother's bed. Doflamingo puts an apple on his mother's lap. "Here, we found a good one today. Eat it and get better." 

She smiles, taking the apple and splitting it in half, one to each of her children. "I'm not hungry. Doffy and Rosi should eat it before it gets bad."

Doflamingo looks unconvinced, but compiles anyway, "Yes mother…"

Law frowns. He doesn't want Rosinante living like this, but he doesn't have the means to improve his living conditions worked out just yet. Volunteering to help like some selfless bleeding heart won't do - his mother is way too sharp not to notice his insincerity - and any sudden suggestion to change living spaces will be met with suspicion. Law could try to gain their trust but I'll be a long and drawn out process, him being the suspicious fucker that he is.

For now, unobtrusive acts of kindness are the way to go. Starting with...

"Hey," Law beckons the two children still sitting near their mother's bed, "let me take a look at those bandages."

Rosinante looks at him, then back at Doflamingo. He grabs his brother's hand who follows after minor resistance. Law changed Rosinante's bandages without fuss. Then he turns to Doflamingo, and reaches out to grab his hand.

Doflamingo slaps his hand away, shouting "Don't you dare touch me so casually!" 

Somehow, Law thinks that this isn't the end of it.

Homing tries to placate him, "Doflamingo, Law is a capable physician, let him have a look at your injuries."

"I wouldn't be injured if it weren't for you! None of this would've happened had we not left! " He snaps, teeth grinding, trembling balled fists, one flint away from blazing in flames. Law takes a wild guess about who's gonna burn in that fire.

Something shifts at the periphery of vision. Rosinante's tiny hand grabs at Law's sleeve, he doesn't take his eyes off his brother.

Well, time for a little gamble. Douse the flames with water or gasoline? Either way, Law wants to see where this pendulum shifts.

"Hey." Law receives a side glare as a response. "Does your back hurt? A burning pulsating pain that you can't ignore? Or maybe it's one of your limbs. A leg perhaps?"

Doflamingo looks at him. "Don't worry, because that pain will be the least of your worries. That injury, the one that's making you limp and drenching you in sweat will keep getting worse and worse.Then you'll get to experience your limb slowly rotting away. Better yet, when your body fails to keep that infection at bay, you'll experience a full body shutdown." 

Law's stare never leaves Doflamingo's pale face. He remembers something then, a conversation he had with Doflamingo when he was younger. The words tumble out of his mouth. "Pride can't help you when you're buried in the ground."

Doflamingo stares, unmoving. Actually, no one is moving. Everyone in the room is just staring at him. Oops.

Law sighs. "Will you let me examine your wounds now?" 

"....I'll allow it."

The tension lifts from the room, a tiny breath escapes from Rosinante, still clutching at his sleeve. The boy looks up at him, then smacks his shoulder "Bully."

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

"No, I'm not."

It made Rosinante giggle so that's that's a win.

Doflamingo sits on a chair on the other side of the room, on leg over the other. "Well?"

Law huffs, but doesn't call him out in his bullshit. He moves closer, the brat still scowling at him. Law goes for his shirt but doflamingo evades his hand, taking the garment off himself.

"Turn around and show me your back." He gets an annoyed huff for an answer, but Doflamingo does so regardless. 

His back is a mess, his arms are a mess, a large gash is an ugly shade of red. A single touch sends a jolt down Doflamingo's spine, sucking a sharp breath. Law starts working, cleaning and disinfecting the wounds, small sounds would slip from Doflamingo but he holds himself. 

Rosinante moves closer and grips one of his brother's hands, acting as an anchor."Doffy, does it hurt?" He whispers in his brother's ear, but it's still loud for Law to hear.

Doflamingo's strained face smoothes, he takes a big breath. "No silly, it's just the sting of the disinfectant. It doesn't hurt at all." 

Law wraps up, gathers his things, and heads for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Law thinks he handled himself rather well, and Doflamingo didn't elicit feelings of pure rage as he thought he would. He would go as far as call their interaction civil. 

He hopes that tomorrow would be as uneventful.

.

.

.

"...What the fuck?"

More cuts, more bruises. Doflamingo has a swollen wrist, Rosinante has a fresh bruise on his cheek, both quiet so they won't wake their sleeping mother.

"I just wanted to take one piece." Fresh tears swell in Rosinante's eyes.

Law tries to sooth, gathering the child in his arms, shushing Rosinante and patting his head. "Hey, don't cry. I brought food with me so let's sit down and eat, then we'll talk. Ok?"

Rosinante nods. Law settles on the ground, the child with him. He takes a meat bun out of a paper bag and hands it to Rosinante who eats in silence.

"You want to tell me what happened?" And so he does, about his attempt at theft from a bakery, how he was caught and beaten, with doflamingo taking the burnt of the hits.

"Brother got hurt because of me. He told me not to go there. I wanted....mother should eat nice things to get better, but brother hates me now..."

Law looks at Doflamingo who sat at a distance, still as a statue, his face is blank. Law knows that face, Doflamingo is _furious_. 

Law doesn't know how to handle crying children, or furious children. He can barely remember how Cora-san calmed him down when he snapped...Cora-san really was a saint for handling him at his worst.

He sighs and puts another bun in Rosinante's hand. "He doesn't, an older brother can't hate their siblings. Now." -Law lifts Rosinante by his armpits before setting him on the ground again. He removes the child's bangs from his face, wiping the tears from his eyes - "You wanted her to eat nice things, right? Now's your chance. I'm sure she'll feel a lot better after eating this." He smiles at him. "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

Rosinante sniffs, giving him a small, silly smile before nodding, his cheeks tinged pink. 

"I'll take a look at your brother so run along." He shoos him toward Hestia's bed. Rosinante gives him a soft 'thank you' and heads to his mother, while Law goes to Doflamingo. "Hey. Time to be wrapped in bandages, or Rosinante will be sad." 

"...What's the point." Doflamingo doesn't look at him, gaze straight ahead. His voice is cold yet restrained, an animal in an open cage. Law realises he's holding himself for his mother's sake.

"Elaborate."

"They'll beat me up tomorrow too."

Law huffs. "Then just stop getting beaten." 

Doflamingo throws a kick at his shins and he evades. "Saying it like I want to be beaten you bastard just drop dead."

"Then I'll teach you how." Doflamingo looks at him in confusion, his fury momentarily forgotten. Law crouches at his eye level. "Not to get caught, not to get beaten. I'll teach you if you want to."

A debt, in Law's mind. One that he loathed and adored in equal measures, learning at the hands of the heavenly demon. What had him survive all those years in the north blue, what gave him an edge in the grand line. He now has the chance to get rid of the fucking thing. 

Doflamingo scoffs -because of course- somehow looking down at him while physically looking up. "I don't need someone like you to teach me anything."

It was worth a shot, and there's always a chance this asshat will ask of his own accord one day. He'll humiliate him thoroughly when that time comes.

So Law shrugs, then starts working on Doflamingo's reopened injuries, disregarding his token resistance. "Ruining all my hard work." He mutters. Doflamingo throws a punch at his head, he evades again. 

Rosinante comes back after a few minutes, standing near Law, paper bag in hand. He hands a bun to Doflamingo who thanks him, the younger smiling brightly in return. 

Law points to Doflamingo's hand, "wrist." He needs to check Whether it's broken or not. Doflamingo - obviously - decides that now is a good time to fuck with him; so doesn't move, tucking the wrist behind his back. Law decides to approach this as a rational adult.

He grabs kikoku, unsheathing it while Doflamingo stares at him warily . "I'm gonna take a look at that wrist now, whether you're attached to it or not is your choice."

  
  


That seems to do it for Doflamingo, he extends his swollen wrist while glaring daggers at Law. Rosinante took to slapping and scolding Law for "being so mean." He had to apologise several times for Rosinante to forgive him.

"I'll show you something good. So stop being angry at me." Both children looked at him. Well, now that he had their attention, Law wants to make it a good show. 

**"Room."** It surrounds Doflamingo's wrist who gives a full body jerk, while Rosinante lets out a quiet gasp.

"What's that?" Rosinante asks in awe. 

"My devil fruit ability." He then answers whatever question Rosinante throws at him, first about his ability and then about devil fruits in general. Law doesn't mind answering, and it's taking Rosinante's mind off what made him cry earlier. 

Even Doflamingo is listening to him."Your ability is pretty creepy."

"So I've been told. Now finish your bun."

He wraps Doflamingo's wrist, then goes to check on Hestia, who has been watching this whole affair from start to finish without a single comment. Her smile brightens as he comes closer. "I'm glad you're getting along with the children."

He lifts an eyebrow. "Me brandishing my sword is getting along with them?"

"Oh don't be cheeky. You weren't going to cut them." She sure is disgustingly perceptive.

A presence nearing the door catches Law's attention, a familiar one. He stands up as the door swings open. Homing stumbles inside, clutching a bundle of fabric. Sheets - _new_ sheets, Law notes.

"Darling!" Hestia scrambles to leave the bed but Law puts a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. He can see why she's distraught, her husband looks like he came out of a boxing ring.

"I'm alright my love." He puts the sheets on the bed before slumping near the bed frame. He reaches out for Hestia's hand. "I found some good, warm sheets for you. I do hope you'll get better soon."

"Why are you so hurt?" Hestia clutches at his hand. Homing merely laughs off, citing an accident with the locals.

"They don't feel like your typical locals." Law grabs his sword and turns to Homing . "Someone followed you back here." 

Homing's face loses three shades of colour with that sentence. He struggles to stand up again. "No-no no that can't- I'm sure I lost them- I'm-" Law pushes him back to the ground.

"I'll handle it. Stay put." He walks out the door.

.

.

.

Annoyingly, Homing does not stay put - opting to follow him out of the shack, but having the good sense to stay out of the way. Three men looking like they've been dressed by eustass kid himself approach them, radiating confidence like a man lighting a dynamite with his cigar, so sure it won't blow in his face. Morons then. 

"Look 'ere fellas, we got ourselves a freebie. Good thing we brought that extra collar huh?" The taller one - apparent ringleader - spoke, his two sidekicks snickering behind him.

Slavers then. No wonder Law recognized none of them. 

The tall one motions with his head, and his goons move into action, one of them - bald, shirtless, having more in common with the meat buns that Law bought than any human he knows - heads straight towards him, while the other unsubtly tries to circle the shack.

"Come here pretty boy. I know a man that'll pay my weight in gold for a thing like you." The fat man draws his sword, his other hand holding a pistol, though Law knows he won't use it, the dead can't be sold as slaves.

"That's a lot of gold." He smirks, setting a room that surrounds the shack for safe measure before unsheathing kikoku. He should end this before the ruckus draws any more attention, and he can't have these men going back to report what they found.

Hence, none of these chums are leaving here alive. 

He swings his sword, splitting the fat one into two long strips before grabbing a tin can from the ground near him and throwing it. **"Shambles."** He swings at the can just as he switches it for the slinking man near the shack, separating his head from the rest of him in one clean swing.

Law turns to their leader, currently looking at the two pieces of his fat subordinate writhing on the ground in a mix of horror, disgust, and anger before looking at Law. "Fuck."

Law points his sword at the tall man - who raises his hands in mock surrender. "Humour me here, but isn't this too much effort to capture a malnourished family of four?"

The man gives a forced laugh, "Not if they're world nobles. A lot of people want to see 'em hurt and whaddya know, there's a lot of money to make from all that hate." Then he stares at Law, and a sly smile breaks on his face. "I'm not an unreasonable man though. If you already staked a claim on 'em I'm not butting in. Although…" his smile turns sharp, "this is our territory and so I hope that you will pay us a measly sum if you wanna keep things...civil between us."

Law returns the man's smile with a feral grin of his own. "No."

The man pulls a gun and shoots without another word. A bang reverberates in the air. Law's room is still up. The bullet hits the ground near it's shooter, making him jump. A piece of junk falls at Law's feet.

Law can't have another bullet go off again so he relives the man from his gun and the arm attached to it. He can't have him run away either so he lops his head off for safe measure. 

He walks towards the severed head and picks it up. "You three are the only ones that followed that man?" He gestures towards Homing who was still as a statue - white as a statue too if Law was being honest. "Oh and-" he brings the head closer, whispering "I advise not to lie, unless you want to experience evisceration while fully conscious."

"I-It's just us! We were supposed to report back if we caught 'em!" 

Law hums, pleased with the information. Those three morons won't be missed for a day or two which gives him ample time to relocate the family. Now armed with an actual excuse to uproot them from this junkyard, he hopes they accept his suggestion willingly -he doesn't want to squander the good impression he cultivated- if not…

"..Burn that bridge when we get there." Law murmurs as he looks at the scattered body parts and the wailing head in his hand. He sighs, time to clean up.

He drops the head into the pile of human parts and walks to Homing. "I need you to get me those old sheets." 

Homing blinks, the words slow to register in the face of the sheer absurdity he's witnessing. He should be horrified - a part of him is, the young doctor he's known for two days has chopped up three men twice his size like paper, and yet death did not come for them. 

He knows about devil fruits- seen them used as circus acts in the holy land, knows that they are a strange and dangerous powers, and now he knows the young man is a user himself.

Yet the most absurd part of all of this, the most baffling to him, as he looks at Law putting his sword back into its sheath, as he gets closer to him, is that… he is not afraid of him. He is not afraid of a man capable of killing his entire family, because Homing absurdly -confidently- believes that Law will not lay a hand on any of them. 

"Law. Afterwards, I'd like to have a conversation with you, if you don't mind." He sees the young man tilt his head in confusion before nodding.

Law doesn't know what Homing's deal is about but he's glad the man is taking things in stride. "The sheets?" At the reminder Homing nods and goes to retrieve them.

Law returns to the pile of bodies, grabs a head by the neck and applies pressure. He can hear the body thrashing somewhere behind him but it doesn't take long before it stills. He hears footsteps behind him, small and uneven.

"Your powers really are creepy." Doflamingo stops behind him, his bun still half eaten, he takes a bite. "What are You doing to them? Aren't they dead?"

"They will be." He grabs both parts of the fat man's neck, one half in each hand, and squeeze. "Pressure on both carotids causes a drop in blood pressure and they pass out, do it long enough and they'll die from cerebral ischaemia." Law smiles at Doflamingo, "Death hurts less if they don't feel it."

Doflamingo frowns. "Why not just choke them and be done with it?"

"Suffocation is a messy way to die. This way, they'll pass out before they can feel it."

Doflamingo huffs, getting closer to the last head and stepping on it, he ignores its yelling, "They deserve a messy death."

"You don't get to decide that."

"And You do?"

Law hums. "Weaklings can't choose their way of death." He drops the head in his hands and turns fully to Doflamingo. "I'm strong. I'll kill them however I want, and I'll be merciful."

Doflamingo huffs, rolling the head under his feet. "Why have mercy on scum? Do you think they'll do the same if your roles were reversed." Law shakes his head, making Doflamingo even more confused. "Then why?"

"...Someone I love would be disappointed in me if I don't."

"Then they're a fool and so are you."

_This fucking brat._

Doflamingo continues on. "Why should I give mercy to those undeserving of it. If they try to lay a hand on me, then they deserve an ugly death."

Law rubs his forehead, he feels a headache blooming. "You're still talking about the slavers or is this about the people living here?" He points to Doflamingo's neck, faint hand prints are still visible on his skin. "Though malicious and misplaced, they did this in retaliation. In their minds, you - as a noble, were the one who laid your hand first."

Doflamingo bristles. He remembers them, every last one of them, every single face. "Those trash. I wouldn't even collar them, I'd execute them - all of them for what they did. maybe burn the entire island for good measure."

The words were spoken with such venom that Law could see it drip with each syllable. His response to such toxic words spewed by a ten year old was to laugh. 

He could tell it wasn't the reaction Doflamingo was expecting - Even the head under Doflamingo's foot was looking at him funny, but finding out that the grown man Law knew has the same mental capacity and emotional maturation as his ten year old counterpart is way too funny for Law not to laugh. 

Doflamingo stares at Law. He's not angry at the man's abnormal reaction, more than anything his own confusion is what pisses him off. "What's so funny?"

Law looks at Doflamingo, his voice tinged with mirth. "Did you listen to me? Do you even listen to anything outside of the voice in your head? Why do you think people hate you so much?"

Doflamingo scoffs "Does it matter what ants think of? What trash under your heel feels? I shouldn't think about such useless things, and I never would've if it weren't for father's stupidity. This-" he digs his heels harder on the head "- filthy, rotten world isn't where I belong. I am the son of heaven, I lived as a god before father's mistake brought us here and I-"

"shut up."

Doflamingo closed his mouth with an audible click. He stares as Law stands to his full height, looking down on him. The amusement hasn't left Law's face but there's something sharper there.

_This fucking brat._

"I'm going to tell you something very important. A free life advice." He wants Doflamingo to hear this. He knows the brat is prideful and arrogant, and his parental figures have either been too gentle to correct him, or have bolstered his already inflated self worth - like those four bastards. He figures that for Law's advice to work, Doflamingo needs to hear it as often and as bluntly as possible. Might as well start now.

"I need you to open your eyes, and take a really good look at where you are. Because this-" Law gestured to everything around them "-is the world that you have always lived in. You weren't born in heaven and you didn't drop in hell. All you did was get a change in perspective, to the other side of that chain you were always pulling."

Doflamingo listens, and he hates this. He hates everything that's coming out of this bastard's mouth, he feels those words jabbing something in him, trying to Chip at its edges. He doesn't know how to answer back. "You don't even know what it was like there." 

  
  


"I don't," Law crouches down. "I do know no one suffers in heaven. That's what hell is for." He points to the head under Doflamingo's foot, "Hand over the head."

Doflamingo bends and grabs it by the hair, it wails and flings insults but that doesn't seem to bother him. He wants to try choking it himself, hoping that I'll lift his plummeting mood, but that requires asking this baggy eyed bastard and he would rather die. He flings the head at Law who easily catches it before it smacks his face, then he heads back to the garbage they call their house. 

"Oh and-" He hears Law's voice behind him "-don't talk about where you're from in front of others, it's dangerous."

Just then, it dawned on Doflamingo that Law had talked with him as if he knew about Mary Geoise. He was so caught up in their conversation that he hadn't even noticed himself talking about it.

Homing arrives just as Law finished the last head, carrying with him the old sheets Law had asked for.

"I hope you don't find my question meddling, but what are you going to do now?"

"Need a place to get rid of them," He points to the dismembered slavers.

Homing- on his part -tries to maintain eye contact with Law while not looking at the body parts. "Do you perhaps require any assistance?" He gathers the courage to ask.

"Yeah. Thanks for volunteering." Law bundles the bodies into two neat little piles using the sheets as makeshift sacks, and hands one of them to Homing. 

Homing believes that not thinking about what is in his hands will do wonders to his mentality, So he doesn't. He trusts that the young pirate doctor will have his family's best interest, definitely...

Law knows he can't get rid of the bodies here, too much blood and mess that'll be too close to the family trail. He thought about chucking them to the ocean in bits and pieces but the tide might carry them back to shore. What Law wants is to maintain their 'missing' status for as long as possible. The forest east from here comes to mind, sandwiched between the junkyard and an abandoned shore makes it near deserted. Less foot traffic means less people to worry about, and - he remembers bemusingly - there's also a nice empty cabin right next to a tried and tested burial site. Perfect.

Law needs the long trek to think about broaching the subject that's been rattling in his mind ever since he saw Rosinante's living conditions. This incident just gave him the perfect excuse to relocate the entire family. Rosinante deserves to live his childhood comfortably with his family, and Law would see to that one way or another.

.

.

.

As they made their way through the forest, Homing's presence became more and more pronounced in Law's consciousness. He could feel the man reverberating behind him, opening his mouth to say something before backing down, and boring his eyeballs into Law's back.

"I..."

Law turns sharply to Homing who shuts his mouth again, stopping dead in his tracks. 

Homing looks like he has a needle dislodged in his mouth. He holds the bag in his hands tighter, his sight shifting, before making eye contact. Law feels his own anxiety rising with each second spent in silence.

"Law...those men that attacked, have they told you who we are...what we are?"

Law's shoulders slump, relaxing immediately. "Oh. I already know you're world nobles, it's not like they told me anything new."

_So Homing was worried about that?_ Then again Law can't blame him, the man was acting on the belief that Law doesn't know about their origins, and Law himself never corrected that assumption until now.

Homing gawks at him, dropping the bag in his hand, "What? You knew-then why would you help us?"

That was easy to answer. "Because I'm selfish."

What cora-san did, wasn't a debt. Law never wants to see it as a debt that he's obligated to repay - he already did that for thirteen years, foolishly putting a reason for Cora-san's love. 

Cora-san saved him because he loved him, Cora-san was selfish and did what he wanted, he loved him and saved him and died without him, and so Law would do whatever the fuck he wants too, because he loves him too.

"This isn't kindness or pity, I'm doing this because I selfishly want your family to live a happy life somewhere that isn't a garbage dump." 

Homing stared at Law for a few seconds before bursting into laughter, he wiped the moisture from his eyes. "I cannot believe that I believe you." He laughed again, "the absurdity of my statement, and yet I stand by it. I believe you, Trafalgar Law."

Law smirks at the man. "Glad you do, pretty hard to do what I want otherwise." He starts to walk again, Homing grabs his fallen bag and follows. 

Their walk was a comfortable one,the sound of rustling leaves filling the air along with their footsteps, it was almost peaceful if not for the bags of dead bodies they were carrying, or perhaps it was peaceful regardless of them.

"..we need to move again." A statement, Homing may be naive but he's not a complete fool. They can't stay in that house any longer.

Law hums, glad the man had broached the subject first, saving him a lot of trouble. 

"You stole those sheets." Another statement, this time from Law himself.

Homing didn't deny. "I did. I will again if I must. Do you think I am a hypocrite? Coming here to live like humans, then taking what doesn't belong to me for my own benefit." 

"Nothing more human than struggling to survive." 

A strained laugh from Homing,"I am beginning to learn this myself." He quickens his steps, walking side by side with Law. "I would appreciate you not telling the children, I do not wish for them to grow up thinking what I did was righteous, no matter the reason."

Law raises an eyebrow. "It's not like your children aren't trying to steal themselves." 

Another weak laugh."I know they are. I wish I could help but I'm too noticeable to wander around the streets, even at night. I still think it was a miracle that i found you without being killed when we met."

"Why bother hiding it, then?"

"..I don't want them to see this side of me. I wish to be remembered as a kind and loving father who can do no wrong...no more wrong, as foolish as that might sound in this situation." Homing scratches his neck. "I suppose I am a bit selfish myself."

_They did remember a kind and loving father. At least one of them did_ , Law thought.

Homing then notices the road becoming more and more well trodden. "You seem to be familiar with these parts of the woods."

Law nods. "A really useful plant grows here, the flowers relieve pain while the roots reduce inflammation, problem is it only blooms at night. I found a good batch near a bandit hideout, they weren't too keen on my night picking so they had to go."

"Is that where we're going?"

"Yeah. They left a really nice house too."

"I suppose we'll be living in that nice house."

Law nods."I'll bring food for-" _cora-san "_ -the children, but you and your wife will have to feed yourselves." 

"I am sure that we can manage something."

They stop at a clearing, and though no signs of recent digging could be seen, Homing knows people are buried under, he has a good guess about their identity.

Law shakes the bag in his hand. "Come on, let's get this over with and head back. Time to move."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second Chapter is out :-D  
> The rest will take a bit more time since I've written the first two for quite some time.
> 
> I've always had a thought that Doffy and Rosi's parents are a tad more complicated than their children remember. I don't think that a 10 year old could really say he knew his parents well (and I'm speaking for both Rosiante's belief in their kindness and Doflamingo's belief in their naivete.)  
> Doffy's mama had two options for a name. 'Hestia' the Greek goddess of the hearth, or 'Dulcinea' the beloved of Donquixote.  
> I was gonna choose the latter but then I looked up Homing's name which meant "an animal's ability to return to its territory after travelling away from it." And I thought it was kinda romantic that his name refered to him always knowing the way back home to where his wife is.


	3. Hidden agendas all around

Though they had to wait till the next evening - with Law still getting side glances from the more unsavory patrons of the inn. Out the window and to the junkyard was easy - moving out was even easier, no one wanted to stay in that place.

Hestia was much better after 3 days of treatment, she could walk on her own albeit with a slow pace, and the children were happy enough to see their mother walking that they curbed their enthusiasm and didn't sprint off to the forest on their own.

Homing showed surprising competence by pre-packing what was necessary and telling the children not to leave the house. He also gave his Den Den mushi number to Law, prompting Law to smack the man's head with the butt of his sword for not telling him about the snail sooner.

Law wouldn't call the forest dangerous, there are wild animals of the smaller variety -small in Law's eyes anyway, he should check what normal people think of them- but they usually avoid man-made roads, so they had no trouble reaching the family's new home. 

A cabin with a wide foyer, two side rooms -one for storage, the other a makeshift bathroom, and an unkempt backyard with wilted vegetations. The inside smelled like a cheap pub even after two weeks of inoccupation. Filthy sleeping mats were scattered across the foyer's floor. Fish hung on hooks in the corner where the kitchen was, none of it seemed edible. The backyard is connected to a small shore via a narrow steep path. A pathetic looking dinghy is docked on the sand, in it lies a rusted metal bucket and a fishing pole.

Rosinante absolutely adores their new home, running in circles and trying to find every hidden nook and cranny. Doflamingo, He...Hmmm. 

"Looks better than that other shit hole."

He likes it too, Law supposes.

No matter what the family thinks of their new abode, all of them know that this home is a sign of stability. 

Law hopes it'll be a foothold, or a branch that will decelerate their drop should they find themselves in a freefall.

.

.

.

It's been a month since the family moved into their new home. Doflamingo has comfortably made his existence sparse where Law was involved. He'd hoped that something in this mountain would just eat the kid but he knows the brat's luck is too good for it to end like that. Rosinante on the other hand has become more active in these past weeks, and thus more prone to falls, slips, tumbles, plunges, and general unbalance. Law put a pin on that particular issue for now since he is currently dealing with something he hadn't foreseen.

In the hierarchy of needs, one must acquire his base necessities and a sense of security before thinking about other, more personal wants. It is when physical needs are met, that psychological ones emerge.

And so. "I'm bored." Rosinante has announced one fateful day. Waiting as a guardian on the threshold of his household. Intercepting Law, his now metaphorical prey.

Law's glad that Rosinante is feeling safe and content enough to be thinking about these kinds of trivial things, but how is he supposed to act in this situation? 

"Play with me." The youngest 'young master' declares with an exaggerated oomph, before deflating a bit and adding "Please." His face is red as cherries.

Now it must be said that a child in the middle of the forest being bored out of his mind, especially when his only brother fucks off to god knows where and leaves him alone most of the day, is something that was bound to happen eventually. A completely expected outcome to everyone but Law whose childhood was coloured in a myriad of events, none of which has left him especially "bored."

"...sure." Law's 'I can't-say-no-to-cora-san' disease ravages the reminder of his IQ in this critical moment, and digs himself a hole the size of Green bit. But looking at the smile blooming on the child's face like sunrise, Law is content to bask in his infectious happiness. 

They tried playing tag, which resulted in scabbed knees, a bump on the head, and a small fire. Law, in a futile attempt to minimise the damage Rosinante was doing to himself, opted to change the game into something that required the small child to be completely still after a period of time. 

"Hide and seek?" Rosinante asked, and was answered with a nod from Law who was bandaging his elbow after his last fall.

Law grabbed Rosinante's bangs and pulled them away from his face using a scrunchy. Ikkaku always broke hers and harassed Law into buying her more, so he got the habit of always having spares in his pockets.

"Take as long as you like, don't run, look at where you're going, and don't wander too far."

.

.

.

Rosinante was so happy that Law agreed to play with him. Doffy never wants to play anymore, he leaves whenever mother and father aren't looking to go to the city. Rosinante used to come with him to look for food, but that scary boy keeps sticking to Doffy whenever they come. He knows when someone doesn't doesn't like him; their tone, their gestures, the way they look at him, that boy did not like him at all. He told this to Doffy who ruffled his hair and told him he was being silly, but he's super sure about this; the slaves were scared of everyone, the townspeople were mad at their family, and that boy wanted him gone.

Besides, they don't need to go to town anymore, Law is bringing them food everyday, Law… Rosinante wonders why he's sad all the time, he thinks that asking will just make him sadder. 

After carefully considering a place to hide, he decides on a small hole he found under the house, the space was just small enough for him to crawl through, not even Doffy can fit.

"Ow." His hand is scratched by pointy rock as he crawls, but there was no blood so it should be fine. He hears Law's footsteps after some time. It's funny but he can always tell them apart, only hearing the fall of the heel on the ground -like water splatter on their sink- and nothing else. the sound of footsteps stops, then heads his way. Rosinante is sure that isn't seen, he was even holding his breath and not twitching a muscle, and yet.

"Gotcha." Law found him in 5 minutes. Then he kept on finding him, inside the hollow tree, below the small dock, in the cupboards, on the roof.

"You know, you're really good at hiding."

"Then why do you keep finding me!" 

It was so unfair! Rosinante knows he's good at hiding, not even their previous palace guards could find him when he played with Doffy. He was even extra careful this time and hid his tracks before slipping on a leaf, but that's beside the point! 

"Are you cheating?" He pointed a finger at Law.

"No, I'm just using my senses to find you. Isn't that how it's played? Did the rules Change?" 

Rosinante lowered his hand back. There's something weird with what Law said, just plain weeeeird. It gives him the same feeling as Doffy's "not lies", when he knows Doffy is one hundred percent lying but can't exactly point out how because he starts using more and more complicated sentences to throw him off. 

_ Did you break my toy Doffy? _

_ Honestly, I've only seen it here today. Do you think someone broke it? Want me to help you look? _

Doffy wasn't lying, he did honestly see it here today, it's just that he saw it  _ here today _ when he accidently broke it. He never answered the question, and offered a counter question to make Rosinante forget about what he was asking about in the first place.

_ It's your brother's quirk, one of his many.  _ mother said with a laugh when he asked her about it.  _ You're a very perceptive boy for noticing Rosi, but don't tell Doffy about it, mama wants him to figure it out himself. _

'I don't think he ever will, mother.' Rosinante thought, 'Law is already an adult, but he hasn't figured it out either.' 

As for Doffy's "not lies", he always puts them in the first half of his sentence where it will be swallowed up by the rest of his words. And it's never an answer to his question, so..

"So what senses are you using to find me?"

"The ones I have." 

"..."

Yup, Law's using "not lies". So Rosinante tries something that works on Doffy nine out of ten times. He puffs his cheeks, turns his head, crosses his arms and announces "Well if you won't tell me then I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Wha- Rosinante.." He can hear Law shifting behind him before Sighing, he hears him crouch down. "Hey, I'm not cheating, it's just too complicated to explain and I don't think you need to know about these things yet." 

Rosinante turns around, his cheeks still fully puffed as he stares at Law. The man gives a long sigh before talking. "It's just something that lets me sense where you are, if I focus really hard I can find you even if I can't actually see you."

"Is it your devil power?"

"No." 

"Is it science? Like Germa in the comics we read?"

"No."

"...You're gonna answer no to every question I ask?"

"No."

Hmm. Rosinante doesn't think that Law will say anything more without a push. He remembers what his mother told him once,  _ if you want someone to answer a question, just stay quiet and they'll feel awkward enough to fill the silence with their answer. _

So he keeps staring at Law without saying a word. And it works! Rosinante got to know what haki is, a superpower that lets you see through walls to find people. Though Law didn't word it like that, he now understands that if Law thinks super super hard, he can find out where everyone else is.

"But it's not omnipotent."

"Omip?"

Law gives a small laugh "It means it has its limits. I can feel your presence because you're close, but my range isn't infinite."

"Can you feel Doffy from here?"

"It won't reach and I don't want to." 

"You said people can learn it. Will you teach me?" 

"Absolutely not."

This prompted a shouting match for fifteen minutes.

"Okay. Okay. How about this." Law finally said after Rosinante started to turn blue from shouting. "I'll teach you if you manage to win a single game of hide and seek."

Hide and seek? the same hide and seek he's lost every single game till now? The one where Law uses a superpower to see where he's hiding?

"BRING IT ONNNNNNN." He screams with clenched fists up in the air.

He'll show him! That bastard, stupid, dumbass, baldy! He's gonna make Law regret ever proposing this bet! 

Though by the look on his face, he's already regretting it.

.

.

.

"That's the last of them." Doflamingo swings the bat an extra time over the man's head, just because he can. He wants to hit him more, but he is starting to realise that smashing people's skulls is not doing a good job at improving his mood so he holds back. 

"Alright, I'm done on my part." Another child lets go of the thug he was holding, he falls to the ground, unmoving.

Two small boys start to walk side by side in the worst alleyways of the worst part of town. Heading to where they'll collect their pay. Each armed with a bent metal bat.

"Glad you left you kid brother at home, Doffy. He would've got in the way of fighting and made everything that much harder for us." 

Doflamingo swings his bat and trips the other boy who falls face flat on the ground, his glasses flying off his face. "Don't call me that. I didn't allow you to address me so casually."

The other boy, completely unaffected by the actions of his partner in crime, gets up, picks up his sunglasses, and follows suit. "That man is still coming to your house?"

"None of your business."

"I guess he still does, you've upped the number of hits you partner up with me."

"I have more free time. Don't get so conceited to think you're of any importance. You're barely worth the scraps of my time that I am throwing you." 

The other boy laughs "Oh wow. He's pissing you off that much? What did he do."

Doflamingo sighed "Nothing. He just feels different, I hate it."

"Different?"

"I said it's nothing." He grumbles, and picks up the pace.

Doflamingo, even now as he's scraping to survive, has never felt inferior to any other creature he's faced. He's better than them just by his heritage alone, He's more superior than this mutt that keeps following him around, than that disgusting blob of fat who pays him for his work, than any other pathetic existence on this island. 

That's why he  _ hates it _ when he thinks about that asshole and he can't think of himself as better than him _.  _

"I want to smash his face with a shovel." He mutters.

"I could do that for you." The dog pipes in.

"I don't need help from someone like you."

"Just saying, we can ambush him on the way to your house and take him down, we've killed grown men before." He catches up to Doflamingo, and brings his face closer. "I just need to know where your house is. You haven't told me yet"

"And I never will." Doflamingo shoves him aways, and they're back to walking side by side.

"Guess we're never having that sleepover huh."

"Shut up Vergo. And wipe your stupid face off."

.

.

.

At sundown, while the family was busy with other things, Homing was attending an important call. This time making sure that no audience is present should a disaster like the last call he made occur. 

"Have I heard correctly? You're in the grand line? Whatever are you doing there? I presumed that promotions opened opportunities for a more comfortable way of life."

"You tell that to the fleet admiral, I haven't slept a wink and -SHUT IT, sorry." A sigh "How're you holding up Homing?"

"Asking to gloat are we?"

"I did ask you to wait. I could've dropped you off, or told you it was a terrible idea."

A dry chuckle from Homing. "Must you remind me of my utter ineptitude? You know I did not call to receive a lecture."

A sigh from the other end. "You know I can't do anything to help you now, the world government-"

Homing's voice got sharper, harder, a gladiator debating the lions released on him. "-Oh I am well aware that we are abandoned. I should find myself fortunate that they think me so weak as to perish here without a fight, otherwise I would have expected Cipher Pol to knock at my door. No, You will help me  _ as my friend _ . You will find means to reach this island and you will save my wife and children from the fate I have condemned them to."

Silence from the other end of line, but Homing knew he was still there. "Sixth months."

"That's too long." He wants to rip his hair out, from the force he was grabbing it with, he probably is.

"I don't need you to live, just survive. My shift here will end in six months. Survive Homing, and I'll come get you."

"We all will, I shall make sure of it."

The sound of a door opening from the other end of the line, a gruff man's voice called, "You done yet?— Shut up and close the door Garp!" Loud booming laughter, and the hard smack of a door. "Haaah. Why are all my friends complete brainless morons? Why couldn't you just wait for me to come back to headquarters?"

"I thought You would talk me out of it."

"I WOULD HAVE." The man on the other side yelled before groaning "Just. Don't die, Homing. I know you're tough enough not to die. I've seen it. So I want you to wait for me this time or i'll—" Shouting, and the sound of canons interrupted what the man was about to say. More groaning could be heard. "I'm gonna turn grey before I turn fifty."

"Having trouble, my friend?"

"That's my line, you floor mop. I'll see you soon Homing. Stay safe."

"You as well, Sengoku."

Click—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recently, life has been kind enough to give me a breather and I used that breather like a bathroom break: very efficiently.
> 
> So here's another Chapter :-) 
> 
> Hope you have fun, stay safe, and tell me what you think ❤


	4. So how did you end up here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my purest self indulgent writing. I have so much of this thought out that I might as well just polish it into chapters.
> 
> since this isn't part of the actual story going on and isn't moving the plot as much I'm putting it in the "0.5 category" or at least I wanted to, but I couldn't figure out how to or if I even could 🌚💔
> 
> Also, please check out [NanamiDarkfox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanamiDarkfox)'s art. She was kind enough to draw such a [wonderful comic](https://latiaskull.tumblr.com/post/626808045175963648/time-slips-under-our-feet-chapter-1-shiraioki) for this fic😭😭❤. The feelings I got from seeing it sustained me for weeks.  
> I also have a [tumblr blog](https://fluffypinkbastard.tumblr.com) now, which contains writing updates and crackpot one piece theories. Check it out of you want :D  
> 
> 
> Hope you have fun reading :-) 
> 
> P.s I'm dropping chapter 5 tommorow. Y'know, if nothing happens to me😂

"I'm not teaching you how to sail." Law turns to Homing at his side. Both standing in front of a boat.

It was a quiet afternoon, one that Law would rather not spend outside. He's not the greatest fan of sunsets, or outdoor activity, but Homing asked him for help and it was boring waiting for Rosinante and that moron to come back. It was one of those days where Doflamingo couldn't run fast enough to shake off Rosinante. 

So he said yes, regretted it instantly, then went on with it out of sheer spite to prove that  _ no _ , he wasn't regretting it. Thus bringing them here.

The man in question scratches his neck as he gives a small, awkward chuckle, "Oh, that's quite alright. I already know how. I was hoping that you will be kind enough to teach me how to use this." He grabbed what Law could describe as the attempt to make a fishing pole without seeing one in real life. 

"You know how to sail a boat, but not use this thing?" This thing, again, being the string on a stick that's symbolising a mockery of reality. 

"Is that wrong?"

"On some level. So how exactly does a world noble learn how to sail?"

Homing smiled "Well. It's actually quite the amusing tale, you see I—"

A gentle, melodious voice interrupts Homing's answer. "He'll tell you if you teach me first aid." Hestia moves down the steep path, cautious not to fall, and stands in front of both men. This is the second time the lady of the Donquixote household has asked Law to teach her. 

_ I want to be able to patch up my angels, I can't depend on your generosity forever.  _

Law told her that she absolutely can and left it at that. Looks like the Hestia won't be asking a third time.

His wife's actions are confusing, but he is willing to support her nonetheless. He closes his mouth, giving a simple cough. 

Law, with a bored expression answers "I'm not paying for something he was giving for free."

"Nothing is ever free in life. you can sate your curiosity after you teach me."

"I'm not that curious."

"Give it time."

He smirks "I'm not giving anything for free."

She giggles "Oh, you are intolerable."

Homing gets between them, pointing at their home "Oh, look! The children are back. Come, it's time for lunch, let us make haste." He pats them on the shoulder and runs, the traitor.

Law sighs, why can't he play with Rosinante and dissociate from the existential horror of his situation in peace. 

A teaching gig atop his crumbling psyche doesn't feel healthy even for him. He can live without knowing this one thing.

.

.

.

"You caught a fish? How? I thought you were still trying with that thing." He pokes at the fish.

Homing blushes "Do not mock my honest attempts. I am certain that dropping the line in water then waiting is the right method, I have seen it done like so. Yet I do not understand why I can't catch any fish."

"That's cuz you're throwing a string in the water." He helpfully informes him. "So how'd you catch this one?"

"I swam."

"You swam? In this weather?" Law points outside. The clouds were heavy with a grey blanket of clouds. The sea should be frigid from the cooling weather. 

"Was I not supposed to?" Homing has the audacity to look confused.

Right, his mistake. That's not what he should be asking. "I'm sorry, you can swim? Since when?" 

Hestia pipes up from where she's sitting next to him "You can learn all about it if you teach me." So much for ignoring her existence.

He doesn't bother facing her, still poking at the fish. "Not interested." He feels like being mulish today.

"Then keep your questions to yourself, you black Helleborus." 

.

.

.

"You can cook." Law stares at the bowl that Homing hands to him. It was an observation, Law found he was having a lot of those around Homing lately.

"Simple things that we can find. My love Hestia knows so much about botany, did you know of the abundance of edible plants and herbs in this area?" 

"How-"

"Nothing is free in life, yes?" Hestia bellows from the garden window. She waves when they make eye contact.

Ugh.

.

.

.

It's come to Law's attention that Homing was thriving in his new environment. Why was he struggling so much before he came?

Oh right, poverty, a dying spouse, and lynch mobs. 

"You sure are getting comfortable."

"Not too comfortable I hope." Homing smiles as he stirs the pot on the fire. Hestia is in the backyard, trying to magically cultivate a garden.

"You know, you don't have to offer me anything. I know you both can barely eat twice a day." He points to the bowl of soup in front of him.

"Would you like to assist in the amendment of that issue?" 

"Not particularly."

Homing laughs in good spirit and doesn't take it to heart. "Nothing for free, yes? I suppose we should be happy that the children are getting their fill." 

There's one observation Law has that he can't wrap his head around. Might as well ask since Hestia's not in earshot.

"You're not stupid, Homing. How did you end up here?" 

The man has his back to Law as he stirs the pot. He gives a long sigh, shoulders sagging. "Not by choice, if that was not apparent, and you're wrong." 

He pours himself a bowl and grabs a seat opposite Law "I  _ am _ a fool. My regret is not knowing this sooner."

He smiles sadly, "I thought we were ready, you see. We taught ourselves everything the servants have done for us, I hauled a mountain of gold that would last us a lifetime. I just..never imagined the level of animosity we would experience."

Law sighed, "You couldn't live as a human up there?"

He shakes his head. "The stench of rot there permeates the air, it seeps through your pores and festers, like a disease. I want my children to grow in a better place, I still do." He smiles "It's thanks to you that we have this chance."

Homing is the type of people Law hates the most. An optimistic man in a hopeless situation, who never gives up until he finds a way. This man risked everything to save someone he loves, and that brought him knocking on Law's door.

Law hates people like Homing, but he doesn't hate Homing.

_ Haaah, fuck. Why did you open your big mouth and ask, you stupid piece of shit _ .

Great. Now he has to deal with annoying shit like empathy and understanding.

He passes one of the containers he bought across the table "Have a salad, Homing." 

The gesture surprises Homing. He tries to return it "You brought this for the children, I can't -"

"Nah, this is my share. I promised Bepo I'd eat a vegetable once a day and it has to be uncooked. I'll just chew a cucumber on the way back." 

Homing reluctanly nods and eats with proper table etiquette as an awkward silence takes a seat at the table. Law can feel discomfort radiating from Homing like a heater. 

Fine, god dammit, he'll say something to fill the quiet.

"At least you're not dead, Homing. "

There.

Weirdly, that seems to do the job. Homing looks at him as if it's the first time he's seeing him, then smiles "Thank you, Law."

"Oh, shut the fuck up." 

.

.

.

The world in Hestia's eyes has always been such a drab. A series of uninteresting monotonic events occurring in rapid succession yet taking eons to pass. She, from her first conscious and oriented thought, had always felt increasingly, horribly, bored. 

Sadly, the years spent in the world's largest cesspool, home to the world's largest collection of empty heads, known as Mary Geoise, did not alleviate her boredom.

Matter of fact it built inside her a desire to find anything to entertain herself with, no matter how eccentric it seems to the outside eye. So she played a game. She picked a person, and followed them around to guess possible facts about them based on her observations. 

The easiest was guessing previous injuries slaves had received.  _ A broken arm not set right. A burn that caused a contracture in his leg _ .  _ This amputation was to curb an infection, and this one was for fun. _

It became a bit harder when she observed her fellow world nobles. Because they were all carbon copies of themselves without a single interesting thought between them. But, such obstacles did not phase her, in fact, when she guessed when Saint Cubbit would die from his morbid obesity, she was only off by 2 weeks. 

Hestia, like many girls of her age, also took to fantasising about committing mass murder in the holy land. This grew to a passion about poisonous plants, then leaped to include general botany. Taking care of her garden was an activity that lessened her homicidal tendencies, unlike every other activity she partakes in.

When she reached her teens, trailing someone from behind had become somewhat "unacceptable". Her mother told her to  " Stop smiling like she was about to bite someone's face off ". These restrictions upsetted her greatly. So much so that she did not call for help when she saw saint Dudley drown in his private pool where even the guards weren't allowed to enter. And no, she was not allowed to enter either.

Seeing the restriction piling up like chains, she put them on herself, their keys in her hands. She wore a mask, held so tight that you couldn't see the seams. She made one for every occasion. That's not all, her words deliberate, sharp as knives, poison under the skin. Seeing people squirm and fume became her new favourite pastime.

On her eighteenth birthday her father's gift was her first owned slave. She hated them. Unlike everyone else in her household she could not be blind enough to miss their misery.  _ A new bruise with ring imprints, from mother then. But why? Why hit them when they did nothing? When they could do nothing?  _

She released them after six months, gave them papers so that they can prove they're free even with the mark. They cried, and thanked her, and kept thanking her until they were out of her sight.

She didn't feel like she deserved that thanks. It made her feel something that all of her masks never could, she felt like a hypocrite.

That was the last slave she owned.

So she went back to where she started, an eccentric at the holy land. At least she could still attend tea parties, the elder saints became a good source of gossip, it's where she heard the news that will shift the gears in her life.

"Missing?" 

"Was missing, saint Hestia. He arrived today at Sabaody archipelago. They say a marine captain found him adrift at sea." The eldest madam in the room clarifies with a flourish.

"To think one of our own would stoop so low as to ask a _mere_ _captain_ for help." Another lady mocks and laughs, the rest follow suit, they have to of course, else her son won't wed their daughters. _Saint Annelsy's wife, they're relatives of an elder. Which wrinkly old man was it?_

"Which family's unfortunate son is he?" Another asks.

"The Donquixote."

"Aah." Everyone had the face of sudden understanding, nodding along as if that name should've clarified the whole ordeal.

One of the younger saints, this being her social debut, tentatively asks "I've heard of them, aren't they a bit...unusual?"

"Oh you can say 'insane', saint Beatty. Everyone's thinking about it." A notorious chatterbox adds with a snicker. 

The eldest matriarch in presence knocks on the table with the fan in her hand. "Saint Noel, you will adhere to the proper decorum. I will not hear such vulgar vocabulary in my presence."

"I wonder how he survived?" Hestia asks.

"Why don't you ask him, saint Hestia."

What an excellent idea, one that she sought to execute immediately. She found out which day the disgruntled missing saint would arrive at Mary Geoise and loitered around waiting to catch a glimpse.

A young man with an unruly mop of blond hair, looking as if dipped in the sunrays, with a real kind face, putting all her masks to shame. He appears ignorant, or blatantly unconcerned about other people's looks. The crowd dispersed after seeing their fill, she's aware of the bets going around about the number of limbs he'll have lost. None were missing.

The saint is thanking a young marine officer who looks about to punch both the saint and the other marine standing at his side eating crackers. 

"You know what Homing?" The cracker eating marine says. Ignoring the "Please don't get us killed." From his friend and continuing onward. "you're a pretty decent guy for someone who came from this garbage dump-" his friend shuts him up, darting around to see if someone heard. He makes eye contact with her.

"..."

"..."

The cracker eating marine pulls his friend's hand away and says "Pretend I didn't say that."

"I'm going to kill you-"

"Now, now. You can do this on your way back to headquarters, yes?" The saint pushes them both in the direction of the exit. She sees the marine kick his cracker eating friend down the long steps, by the laughter she heard, he should be fine. 

The saint looks back at her direction. He knows those men could be in trouble, these kinds of things could get someone killed, joke or not.

He comes up to her and bows "My lady, I do hope that this does not come out as improper. But may I ask about which parts of the conversation you have overheard?"

"About the garbage dump?"

"Well-um- er..yes." He clears his throat, " I wish to tell you the conversation I had with those two was not in any way referring to this place. The um- the holy land I mean."

She felt like teasing him "Oh? So what garbage dump was that?"

"The, um...my house."

"Your house." She parrots. 

"Yes!" He says, flailing his arms "I am not sure whether you have heard or not, but I have been absent from my residence for quite some time. It should be quite the-Um...garbage..dump." It sounds like this was the first time that sentence came out of his mouth.

"Pft." Her giggle turns into full blown laughter, she can't help herself. Celestial dragons don't have a reason to lie, and when she meets someone who does, he turns out to be this awful. 

She took a deep breath trying to calm herself before sneaking again "I see. I suppose I should refrain from speaking such private matters to others." 

He laughs as we, his cheeks blooming pink. "I would be most grateful if you do."

She gives a small bow, and heads back to her residence, she's had enough fun for today.

"My lady. May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

Hm?

"Hestia." 

"Saint Hestia, my name is Donquixote Homing. A pleasure to meet you."

"Yours as well. Oh and-" She turns around, "It's good to have you back with us. Saint Homing."

"I am glad as well. I hope to see you again should the fates be kind to me."

Hmm??

"You as well."  Well, that was strange, it's as if he liked their interaction and wished to talk to her again. 

She thinks. 

It's not like she has a pool of data to compare it to. All her interactions tend to be a one time thing once she opens her mouth. 

Well, she got to see the man, she had a good laugh. That's about all the excitement that will happen in, let's say, the next six months. 

But then she sees him the next day, and the one after, and after that.

He's not following her, that man doesn't have a single bad bone in his body. it's that they tend to flock at the same places. So they start talking, and she finds in him an excellent friend, one that is not afraid of what's under her masks.

The days that bleed to one another shift, and the world regains it's colours. 

.

.

.

Hestia was walking with Saint Annelsy to see which girl she'll pick as her daughter-in-law. They weren't walking together per say, Hestia was walking a few steps behind her, but that remains socially acceptable.

She sees a familiar mop of blond hair as she rounds the corner. This particular mop has been meeting her often these past months, giving her a wonderful companion to pass the time.

It's fun to guess about a man as open as him, he's a terrible liar, he has awful book taste, his face does this funny thing whenever he's flustered. Their meetings are becoming the highlights of her day.

They make eye contact as his face breaks into a smile. He heads in her direction.

"Good afternoon, my lady. I hope all is well?"

"It always is when you're around."

"My lady. Before our routine meeting I wish to ask something, if you would hear it."

?

Homing looks serious, which is unusual in and of itself. She nods, giving him the go ahead. 

He smiles at her then gives a low bow. "Saint Hestia, may you allow me to court you with the intention of establishing a serious relationship. I shan't do anything without your permission of course."

???

"How serious?"

"Marriage."

??????

What? Why? Doesn't he know that she isn't ranked high on the scale of celestial anything? Isn't that why anyone would marry anyone here? The Donquixote may be crazy but they still have enough power and sway to suppress the lower generation. 

Also, the man is still waiting for an answer.

"I let a dog loose on a man once." Is the first thing that comes to mind and out of her mouth. Looks like the shock dislodged that filter.

His face goes through a series of very funny expressions before settling on mild confusion, "May I ask for the reason?"

"I didn't like him very much." 

"...Are you going to set one on me now?"

"Not really." She answers. His face lit up.

"Pft." 

"Does that mean?.." He asks hopefully.

She swallows the rest of her laugh before fixing her face with a small smile "A courtship you say? I'll allow it."

You'd think she told him the happiest news of his life with the way he beamed at her. A part of her, a little part, wanted it to be true. 

Her acceptance shoots confidence down his veins "You needn't worry, my Lady! I shall prove that I am a man worthy of your love! I shall never put you to shame, I shall be a man of dignity, I shall-"

"Grow a moustache?"

"I shall grow a moustache!"

She laughs. She has a feeling that she'll be having a lot of fun in the foreseeable future. 

And she does. Her days become brighter while experiencing new things, like laughing until her sides hurt, and street food snuk from the world below. 

She wonders how she can apply a formal complaint to god. She feels quite robbed you see, form the years she could've spent looking at this man. 

This silly man, whose mere existence in this place is an anomaly of itself, is in love with her, and her heart flutters when she thinks of him. 

.

.

.

So this is love, she thinks. 

It's the red racing up his cheeks as they hold hands, and the yellow of his hair as she braids it. 

It's the blue sky as they sit on the grass, watching clouds. 

It's the orange roses blooming in her garden, a symbol of his eternal infatuation.

It's the sapphire ring gleaming in her hand. A promise of their companionship.

He hangs the stars in her eyes, his heart beats for her alone. She wants to whisper her love to the wind, So that the breeze may carry it forever.

So this is love, he thinks.

It's the sound of her laughter, angels silent so they too can hear. 

It's the touch of her hands, fitting in his, and the smell of flowers in her hair. 

It's the sight of her walking with a spring to her step., her smile that shines brighter than a dying star.

It's the taste of her lips.

She lights the sun and hangs the moon. He wants to build a staircase to heaven's door and shout his love, so that all of this world may know of his beloved. 

.

.

.

Their family grows, strong and healthy, and her worries grow with it. 

Her eldest, proud, powerful, and prone to violent thoughts yet lacking her control over them.

What a terrible combination, but not disastrous on its own.

What was disastrous is the volatile reaction it's having with this place. 

Her son doesn't look up to his father. His kind, eloquent father who has patience, who understands that sometimes one doesn't always get what they desire, who never looks down on anyone he meets, who loves humanity and sees the good in it. 

No, He looks up to children in everything but name. That cry and whine like unfed weaning toddlers, foul things that never grow and never learn. He sees their arrogance as pride, their immaturity as strength to take what they want, when they are the most feeble, shameful creatures she has ever met.

He sees them the way they see themselves, and wants to be one of them.

How can you make him understand that the society he's living in is wrong? In this world, they are the strange ones, they are the disruptors of social norms. How will he grow without being influenced by their toxic mindset? They can't protect him here.

"We can leave." Homing suggests one day.

Leave. The thought started as a joke years ago, but the older they got, the more they understood how wrong this place was. The idea left the hypothetical and entered the realm of possibility.

They can go and live like humans, make real connections without people bowing and cowering. Perhaps it was time to act on that idea. 

That decision almost lays them to waste.

.

.

On a lazy morning at the family's cottage, all three adults are sitting at the table, keeping an eye on the children playing outside. Law, seeing that an unrelenting request is more annoying than just doing the damn thing, agrees to teach Hestia whenever he feels like it.

"So let me get this straight. You were stranded at sea and were saved by-" Law slaps Hestia's hand "No, put more space between those sutures, double the thickness of the skin." 

"That's not double?" 

"I'm not teaching you math. Do it again." 

"This is my fourth time!" She waves the severed arm around "There'll be nowhere left to stitch." 

"I'll get you another one when that happens. Do it again." 

"Boo."

"You're the one who wanted to learn. Now-" Turning back to Homing who refuses to acknowledge what just happened "-You were saved by- and correct if I'm wrong- actual pirates?"

"Ah- yes. That's right. Um, Where did you-?" He points at the arm "-No. My apologies, I don't wish to know anymore." 

"Good call. About those pirates..." 

Homing shrugs, sipping his tea "They never took me seriously, found it quite hilarious when I announced that I was a celestial dragon."

"Can't say I won't do the same."

Homing chuckles "I suppose I was off brand, even then. They allowed me to stay but I had to work for myself, learned to sail by observing them."

They were a loud, rambunctious crew, who drank all day and partied all night. They treated Homing like any other man, he ate with them, slept with them, and received chores like any other member. It was the hardest he'd ever worked in his life, and he loved it.

"Ah." Law points to him "Fucker, is that why you're not scared of me? I hope you know that all pirates are selfish, heartless, bastards."  _ Toraoooo, I'm eating your sandwich. _ "Well ,nearly all of them."

Homing smiles at Law "I know." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy, ya made it here :D 
> 
> Great. Please tell me what you think because I tried writing about love while I'm Ace and never dating in my life :^)
> 
> Fun fact : I thought about how much I love Luffy's smile while writing this chapter, it helped tons.
> 
> P.s Black Helleborus is a very poisonous flower can be found in the earlier months of spring, as that is its prime season. It's really pretty and every time I look at it I think of Law, I thought that flower loving Hestia might think the same.


	5. The desire to [———]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is fellas :)

People have told Rosinante that he can be quite stubborn. Not in those exact words of course, they tend to use words mother wouldn't allow him to say that Doffy repeats under his breath for fun. Vergo thought he was stubborn when he refused to leave Doffy's side, but Rosinante wouldn't leave his brother, all they had were each other. Part of him knows why Doffy leaves him behind while he goes to town, he's weak and clumsy and isn't good for anything other than sneaking away like a rat-

No. That's mean, those aren't his words, but heard a variety of them throughout his time here for them to stick a bit, like the smell of cigarettes on your clothes. No, Doffy leaves him behind because he's not strong enough to look out for them both. Doffy doesn't like facing the fact that he's weak, but they both are, and Rosinante wants this to change.

He can't punch like Doffy, he can't swing a bat like Vergo, he's not allowed near any sharp objects, but that's okay. To him, none of these are where his real strength lies. It's in his sharp senses, grasping people's sore spots. It's why Vergo fumes every time he opens his mouth. 

He didn't spend all this time losing to Law, he asked about haki, wanted to learn all about it, and the more he learned the more he fell in love with it. An ability that augments perception, that lets you feel everything around you. Learning about it from Law only hardened his resolve.

He's stubborn, and his stubbornness turns his bet with Law from impossible to just really, _really_ , difficult. It took an entire month, losing a hundred times every single day, and a ton of trial and error to pin down Law's range and duration of haki. 

He plots a safe route through the forest to stay out of Law's range until he calls it quits and then he wins! He knows Law doesn't want him wandering off too far so he plans on marking his route to know how to get back.

Rosinante wakes up vibrating from his bed because of excitement, though it dampens a bit when he turns to his side and Doffy wasn't there again. 

Sighing, he makes the bed, eats breakfast -fried eggs and a vegetable salad Law brought saying he didn't want him to have scurvy, whatever that was- and goes out into the forest before Law comes over in the afternoon.

"Today's the day~ Today's the day~" He hums, smiling to himself as he skips through the forest. He put markings near the tree roots as a guide, hoping that someone as tall as Law wouldn't pay attention to something so close to the ground. He climbs uphill where an enormous tree overlooked the forest from a cliff, placing his last marking on the root. Wind carries the smell of salt and dances with tree branches. He wondered if he could see the ocean if he climbed up.

He could.

He sat up hugging a branch, high enough to look at the sea. He saw it for the first time a year ago. A marine held him up as he glanced down the rail, the ship splitting up the water on its way to their new home, away from the red mountain. Afterwards, he saw it everyday, fanning the edge of the junkyard, a door trapping them in that awful place. Now it's sparkling in the sun, calling out to adventure.

Does it call for Law too? When he talks about his days as a pirate, he always looks happy, even when he complains about his allies and Luffy in particular it's always with such softness. Will he leave them one day and go back to sea?

Great, he made himself sad. Well, he'll feel better after winning the bet so he doesn't let that get to him, maybe if Law leaves he could take them all with him.

Rosinante giggles as he climbs down, imagining how silly his parents would look in pirate clothes, Doffy...yeah, no. It fit him rather well. Eyepatch and everything.

_Does anything look bad on Doffy? What if he dressed like a chicken_. 

Distracted, he slips at the last branch and loses his footing. 

"Ah!" He tries to break the fall by rolling but his knees take most of the impact.

"Owww." Getting up, head spinning, he backs away from the tree as he swallows his heart back.

His feet slip again. He forgot the cliff.

He's gonna fall.

He grabs a hanging vine, it snaps in his hand.

He had dreams of falling, _everyone does at some point_ mother said. The weightlessness, feeling something trying to burst out of your chest, wishing to be left above as you plunge, your breath stuck in your lungs. It was just like his dreams. 

The horrible whistling of the wind beating on his eardrums was new though. It didn't last long.

He wondered if Law would be mad at him.

.

.

.

There's a horrible ringing in Law's ear that's getting louder and louder as time goes by. He can't find him anywhere, he's spreading his observation haki as thin as his range allows and he can't find him. Homing places a hand on his shoulder, he can't hear a thing he's saying, only feeling the tremor of the man's hand like an earthquake. The red sunset is blinding his eyes, bathing the forest with the color of blood. 

"-split up." He catches the last of what Homing said, nodding he starts to walk. What was up that mountain? Wolves? Something else? He never bothered to check. Thinking it was safe as long as Rosinante stayed close to home, isn't he the fucking moron for thinking a child would sit down and listen to him. 

Rosinante isn't dead because he can't sense him. He's still there. He's going to find him even if-

Homing pulls at his arm, stopping him in his tract. 

"What." He snaps.

"There's a trail." Homing points to the bottom of a tree, and Law can see it now, a thin wreath of leaves and black feathers tied to the root of a tree. "I've seen him weave one before, a maid taught him once. Perhaps this might lead us to him, and if we reach a dead end, we shall split up." 

He turns to face Homing "I'm going to find him." His words will chokehold fate until he does.

Homing takes a breath and nods "Of that, I have no doubt."

Now that Law knows what to look for they dash through the forest following the trail, reaching a tree overlooking a cliff and a dead end. At least it was.

Something pings at the periphery of his observation range. Towards the cliff, the one he throws himself off, room already set as he lands at the bottom.

He ignores Homing's shouts and sprints as soon as his feet touch land, towards the faint presence that he drilled into his consciousness, and away from the voices in his head.

_This happened because you intervened._

"Shut up."

_Now he'll die before he grows up to be an adult._

"He won't die."

_Maybe this will be the sequel to that nightmare_ . _Better brush up on pediatric surgery._

" **Room**." A slash of his sword flattens part of forest, he doesn't have time to weave through the trees.

He's going to find him. He's going to find him even if he levels this entire fucking island to the ground.

.

.

.

It hurts, everything hurts and he can't do anything but shed tears. He tries to be as quiet as possible as he walks, Law said there were wild animals here and he doesn't want them to hear him. 

The trees broke his fall, but littered him with cuts and splinters. His knees throb with every step, but he keeps moving. He knows that staying in an open place is never good. 

"Stop crying.." He whispers to himself as he wipes away his tears. People hurt his brother so much more than this and he never cried about it. He takes a breath, holds it for four seconds, and let's it out, he does this until he stops crying. Doffy's anger control technique helps him calm down a bit. 

"Okay. Okay. I can find my way out." His stomach rumbles again, reminding him about his missed lunch. He finds a fruit tree but the branches are too far away to climb, he finds a one that fell and takes a bite. 

"Yuck." It tastes like garbage. 

Oh who was he kidding. He doesn't know where he is now and the sun went down a while ago. It's getting colder, he's hungry, and the fruit is gross. He should've listened when Law told him not to eat weird things off the ground. Plus, he keeps hearing weird noises in the forest. He hopes they're the friendly kind of animals, or the human - fearing kind.

The sound of breaking branches has him freezing on the spot. Holding his breath, he tries to find the source without making any noise, there, something's moving. A group of somethings.

He swallows the panic and slowly, slowwly tries to find a hole to stick himself in. 

_Stay calm_

His eyes catch a hollow root, big enough to fit under it. He moves towards it as slow as he can, feeling nauseated from stress as he watched the now obviously- not- friendly - pack- of- wolves getting closer. 

A branch breaks under his feet, he feels the wood crumble under him, too scared to even hear it break. He doesn't bother turning around.

He dashes, snarls reaching his ears. He scurries under the root before the pack reach him. His heart is climbing upwards from the force of its bests, he wants to throw it up. His head is heavy and unbalanced on his neck. The air in his lungs is choking him, and taking a breath clogs it further. 

They bite at the roots. His hiding place is breaking under the strength of their jaws, they're going to eat him. 

_I don't want to die._

He's scared. His head keeps pounding. The wolf's snarls feel so close, he hears them echoing in his skull. The forest, the rustling of the trees, everything becomes so impossibly loud. 

_"Where are you, please."_

Law. It's Law's voice, crashing through all the loud noise in his head. He's here, he can always tell when Law's gonna come. Suddenly everything hurts that much more, fat tears drop down his face, he wants to see Law again, even if he's gonna be mad at him for eating fruits from the ground and wandering off. He wants to see him again. 

"Rosinante! Where are you!" Law's here, Law came to get him. He just has to tell him where he is.

He takes a big breath, ignoring the pain in his chest, and screams. 

.

.

.

Time slows, the seconds dripping like molasses as he hears his name screamed with such desperation. 

" **Room**." He opens one after another without stopping for breath till he reaches him. 

" **Shambles**." The pack of wolves dispense as he drops in their midst. The circular range of his cut takes them all down, a massive electric shock knocks them out permanently. 

He's here. He's alive. Even when he stopped sensing him in this forest, he's alive and that's all that matters. 

He drops kikoku, not caring where it lands and reaches out to gather him in his arms. Rosinate clings as he pulls him out from under the root. 

"Lawwww!" Rosinante tucks his head in the crook of his neck, he can feel tears dampening his clothes. The cries reverberate down his chest, scared and desperate.

Words die on the tip of his tongue, he buries them there. "I'm here." Is the only thing he says. 

"I thought- I was gonna die." Rosinante can barely talk between all the crying.

"I'd never let that happen, not in this lifetime." 

Law can't stop trembling, either from adrenaline or a drawback from overusing his devil fruit. How many times did he use 'scan' today? How many rooms? Fuck if he cares.

He rocks back and forth until Rosinante calms down. 

"I'm sorry, Rosinante." _Your kindness almost killed him for the second time now. Which is worse? Almost eaten alive or beaten half dead by Ver-_

"No!" Rosinante shouts, "I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't listen and got lost and ate things off the ground." He scrubs at his face wiping away the tears.

"Don't do it so roughly." He pulls his hands and gently wipes them off. If he puts a hand on Rosinante's neck, he can feel his pulse. He never thought a heart beat could be such a comforting thing.

"Law I-" he stops, looks at Law's face, he wonders what he sees, if there's even any colour left on his face. 

Rosinante hugs him as hard as he can. "Let's go home."

.

.

.

Law walks at a snail's pace, careful not to jostle the child on his back. 

"Tall." Rosinante bends over and stares at the ground, as if to prove his point.

"You'll be taller when you grow up." He used to crane his neck when he looked up to Cora-san, though not for long, the man always bent down to his level.

"Really?"

"Yeah." 

The forest lays hush for them, the moon lights a way cold breeze hits his face, he fights the urge to pass out and fall asleep right here. 

"Heh heh" Rosinante lets out a tired laugh on Law's back. Looks like he's about to sleep too. 

"What?" 

Rosinante yawns before smiling "I won the bet."

"...Huh?" The bet? The bet?! What?- 

Oh. 

Oh no.

"You didn't find me. You said _'where are you.'_ I won." 

There's a few seconds of silence before Law laughs, crouching down so he doesn't drop Rosinate by accident. This kid would use a horrible situation and a sentence composition to his advantage. 

Cora-san, kind and gentle, was a spy who lied to his brother for four years then lied to his father for six months to get the info he wanted, he would use those set of skills to outplay them both and save Law's life. Law's glad to know that this particular character trait wasn't a recent development.

"Yeah, yeah. I give up. You won." He says after laughing his fill.

Rosinante lets out a small _yesss._

They meet up with Homing after a while. Rosinante wiggles on Law's back until he puts him down where he races towards his father, Homing running to meet him halfway. 

They cry for five minutes while Law takes a power nap. 

Turns out, Homing caught up by going down a sharp decline on the other side of that cliff. Thus reaching the bottom of the cliff like a normal human being. He was not impressed by Law's sudden suicidal plunge.

"I thought it was pretty impressive." Law felt kinda insulted.

"You will forgive me for not sharing that sentiment." 

Homing offers to carry Rosinante for the rest of the way "Let me take over. You look tired, Law."

"Thanks. It's a lot worse than it looks." 

When Rosinante was secure on his father's back, Homing spoke "Now then, Rosinante. As your father I feel that it is my duty to chastise you for the behavior that led us to where we are." 

Rosinante groaned as his father explained the 64 reasons why his behavior was unacceptable.

.

.

.

Life is full to the brim with knowledge. One could fill oceans with ink and they would dry before the world finished what it had to say. People grow and their horizons widen by new experiences and knowledge they aguire. 

For example, did you know that blood is notoriously hard to wash from fabric? Doflamingo didn't, and he would've liked it very much if someone told him this before he split open a man's skull. Though he'll keep it in mind for next time.

So this is him, experiencing another consequence of his lack of knowledge. These consequences have become less painful the more he learns. peasants burning your home because you told them you're a world noble doesn't carry the same weight as sitting in the sun to dry your washed clothes.

Vergo is sitting next to him even after he shooed him, talking about things that he's not interested in.

"I heard Trebol found something pretty rare."

"A brain cell?" He mutters, fighting the urge to fall asleep from boredom.

Vergo gives a small chuckle "No. Something that he might put to use. A devil fruit."

That woke up Doflamingo alright. "What kind?"

Vergo hums in thought "I didn't know there are kinds, didn't know they were even real until recently. But-" he draws closer to Doflamingo, as if the latter will spill forth an audacious secret "As expected, you're not even surprised. You've seen one before?" 

"I fucking see one about every other day." He grumbles. Thinking of devil fruits made Doflamingo think of that ass, which curdled his already souring mood. 

Vergo, who's always paying too much attention to Doflamingo, catches on his bitter tone. "That guy's a devil fruit user?"

Doflamingo Kicks Vergo for the seventh time today. His recovery time is getting better. "I've made it clear that I don't want to think about him, still you continue to bring him up unprompted."

Vergo sits back up, rubbing the shoulder where Doflamingo's kick landed. "I don't know about that. He's occupying a big chunk of your thoughts from where I'm looking."

"How about I smash those glasses for you, then you'd see better." 

Vergo laughs "Gimme a break, this is my last pair."

Doflamingo sighs, Vergo is wrong. He is _not_ thinking about that bastard, it's that every single fucking thing in his life seems to lead back to him. He can't spend a minute in their house without someone bringing him up, and Trebol's men are complaining about a rogue outsider in their territory that they haven't caught yet, wonder who that is.

Now this shit with devil fruits.

"Are they even that rare?" He remembers seeing some users in Mary Geoise, no one there was that impressed by them. they were less of a rarity and more of an attraction.

"Well. Trebol said that you'd be hard pressed to find one outside the grand line."

"That so?" Another new piece of information. Another reminder of his lack of knowledge. He wonders where _he_ got his fruit.

The job's finished as the sun sets and he splits from Vergo, careful to use different routes to reach his house. The moon's already out which means that bastard slinked off to the hole he's staying in, and no, he's not avoiding him. Though he is avoiding someone.

It feels empty without Rosi, the roads longer and barren without his brother talking and tripping. At least he won't get beaten to death, besides he's better off staying with-

Doflamingo cuts that thought with a swing on the ground, taking a chunk of the road with his bat. 

No. Fuck him. They don't need anybody's help, Doflamingo is more than capable of looking out for them both, and a bunch of trash landing strikes on him won't change that. 

He reaches their house, his mother getting up from her seat as soon as he walks in.

"Oh, sweetheart, have you seen your brother?"

What?

He said this aloud because his mother sighs and sits back down, rubbing her temples. She looks back at him and gathers herself. "Don't worry, nothing happened. He must've wandered too far in the forest, that's all." She smiled at him, All previous traces of worry scrubbed raw from her face.

How did he get lost? Rosi should have been with someone, he shouldn't be left alone. 

_You weren't there._

No, this isn't his fault. Irrational guilt turns to irrational hate. "Where the hell was that bastard in all this?!" He shouted.

His mother beckons him near her "Law wasn't here when it happened." She strokes his head in repetitive motion. "He's looking right now with your father, and I'm staying here in care Rosi comes back home." 

"I'm going to look too." He turns back to the door, trying to break out of his mother's grasp, but she holds on even stronger.

"Where do you think you're going? You don't know your way through this forest either." She reprimands, trying to still his movements. 

"I can't sit and do nothing. I'm finding my own brother." 

"Doflamingo." His mother turns him around to face her. "You will end up lost if you wander off now. I know you're frustrated, I am too but-" she cups his face in her hands. "-Acting without knowledge may bring more harm than good."

Another fucking consequence.

"Oh, my angel. Don't look so sad. We just have to trust-" 

"Trust? Trust who?! Father who's done nothing but sink us deeper into this shithole?! Or maybe I'll trust a literal stranger and see how that works out!" He manages to break free and sprint towards the door. 

He runs a straight line towards the forest path before he stops .

He sees them, Rosi being held by father and the bastard trailing behind them.

His mother catches up to him, putting a hand on his back. He looks up at her "Don't think for a second that we're not talking about this, Donquixote Doflamingo." She whispers.

Great, mother has the "I-love-you-but-I'm-disappointed" face. Will this day get any worse?

"Law will be staying with us for the night." His father says when they reach the house.

Fuck him, actually.

.

.

.

"Doffy."

"Hmm?"

The house is quiet, the forest's noise muted by the walls, and darkness blankets the space. They're both asleep in bed. Rosi's arms and legs swaddled in bandages, tangled with his own. 

It's dark, but he sees Rosi smiling, amber eyes burning under his long bangs. "I don't want to be weak anymore." He whispers "I'm going to become stronger, much stronger. I'll be strong enough to protect you."

"As if I'd let a bumble bee like you take care of me." He flicks his forehead. "I'll protect us without anyone's help."

Rosi grabs his hand "Doffy. You don't —." He shoots out of the bed, looking behind Doflamingo. 

Doflamingo turns around as well, catching the blue glow of that bastard's ability from the window behind him. "I'm gonna go out for a bit. You go back to sleep." He tuks him in, ignoring the protests, then sneaks without alerting their mother.

He goes where the blue orb is flickering like a bad bulb. Wasn't he tired or-

"...What the fuck." It tumbles out of his mouth in a quiet breath. At first Doflamingo doesn't comprehend what he's seeing, and how the hell should he?

Law's sitting on the ground. His insides are scooped up, scattered on the ground and leaving his body hollow. He grabs a piece, withering like snakes and checks it from end to end, then puts it down and moves on to the next piece, rinse and repeat. The blue sphere of influence flickers in protest.

Doflamingo isn't squeamish, he washed a man's brain from his clothes today, but seeing them beating on the ground makes him sick in the stomach. "ugh!—" he'd throw up if he ate tonight.

Law finally looks up at him, then groans. "Fuck, it's you. Can't we ignore each other's existence like always? You'll turn around and go to sleep and i'll-" he gestures to his _insides_ "-collect my things and go drink myself into a stupor."

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Law looks down at them. "Checking something. Been a while since I did." He puts his organs one by one, like a puzzle, back inside.

"You do this a lot?" His stomach settles and he can take a breath without throwing up.

"Not really." 

Silence reigns again as Law puts back his last piece. They should have nothing else to talk about, but Doflamingo doesn't leave.

"Kid. I've had a _stressful day_ , I'm a hair's end away from snapping." Somehow, Doflamingo doesn't think he's joking. He looks different than his normal tired, his eye bags looking like bruises, his hands won't stop trembling even at his sides. "So if you have something to say you better say it now."

Doflamingo huffs "Don't think I trust you. Everyone else might but I'm not like them." This man is a stranger in a strange land, sticking to their family like fungus. Staying without a single motive. Why would they trust him with anything, Never mind finding Rosinante.

Law snorts "I'm glad your eyes work under those shades."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" 

"What? You want me to say _oh please trust me._ " He mocks "I don't know what you're insulting, my intelligence or yours." He stands up on unsteady legs. "Now. If you'll excuse me." He waves his hand as he heads to town, sword in hand.

"Law." That stops him in his tracks, and turns Doflamingo's head around. Rosinate stands at the door.

"Rosi, go back." 

Rosinante shakes his head. "You shouldn't move today." Addressing Law. 

"I'm not tired."

"You're a terrible liar."

Law gives a tired laugh, barely heard but shaking his frame "I used to think I'm pretty decent." 

Doflamingo heads toward Rosinante "Rosi, let him go. He's—"

"Doffy." 

He looks at Rosinante eye to eye. His younger brother who followed him around like a puppy, and cried at everything. When did they become the same height? 

"I trust what I see." Rosinante grabs his hand. "You should trust what you see too." 

"Rosi? Wha—" Then he drags him towards Law who's mumbling something. 

"—Can we not do this today?" The man's words are slurred.

Rosinante smiles at the man "Sure. Tomorrow?"

Law nods, and lets Rosinante drag him back to the house, Doflamingo dragged by the other hand.

"Little bird." Law's voice is almost a whisper, not even looking at Doflamingo. "Free advice number two. People ask for trust only when they can't earn it themselves."

_Doffy, this is our boss_.

"...." He says nothing, and the night goes silent once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My eyes hurt so bad :')
> 
> They've been blood shot since morning. 
> 
> As always. I'd love to hear what you think :D
> 
> P. S also please tell me, did anyone catch what happened with Rosinante or was it too vague?😂💔


End file.
